Fallen Angel
by Tao
Summary: AU. Death and horror follow a stranger in town, who targets Weiß
1. Default Chapter

Poster's Note: Not my fic! Posting it for a good friend!

Author's Note: I don't own Weiß. This fic will contain religious inferences, including Armageddon, God, and the devil. I have nothing against the church or Christianity. This was not written with intent to insult any religion. This is only fiction, and not meant to blasphemize, only to exercise creativity. The voices in my head made me do it. They don't shut up till I write what they say. Flame if you want, not that it matters. It's already been written.
    
    Thank you to NightMajik for Beta-reading!
    
    February 27, 1998
    
    9:45 PM

Crayola blue splashes lit up the dark walls of the alleyway. Figures dressed in lumpy raincoats muttered to each other as they shook their heads. Beyond them, a rolling cot was raised to its upright position, shaking its burden, hidden by a crimson-stained sheet.

"The police have no clues as to the killer at this time," the anchorwoman on the TV said solemnly. "The victim has been identified as Izo Hashimoto, artist and nature activist, age twenty-one."

"Schwarz?" A chocolate brown-haired young man looked over to the slender blonde sprawled against the arm of the couch. The blonde shrugged.

"I don't really think so, Ken." He ran a hand through his shoulder-length hair. "None of them are known for ripping people in half."

Ken bit his lip. "So what is known for ripping people in half?"

"Hmm." The blonde lifted a finger to his lips in thought, green eyes shifting back and forth. The brunette raised an eyebrow and started singing the tune from Jeopardy.

"Eeeent!" he cried after finishing the song. "I'm sorry, Yo-tan, but we have excellent consolation prizes."

Green eyes shifted to him in annoyance. "I'll give you a consolation."

Ken gasped as the blonde moved, and he found his legs grabbed as he was levered up and over the back of the couch.

"Jerk," he muttered from the floor as Youji folded his arms on the back of the couch and grinned down at him.

"Ooo, I'm injured. Such foul language, Kenken!" He slapped his hand to his forehead as if in pain.

"What happened?" A younger boy with copper hair came running in socks down the hallway.

"Nothing, nothing," Ken muttered as he pushed himself up. He looked to the boy, and saw the brief panic on his face as his socks slipped.

"Awww, shit!"

Youji chuckled down at the tangle of limbs. "And that's why we don't run in the house."

A flash of lighting through the window lit up the room, making everyone glance at it, before the anchor on the TV cut off in mid-sentence as if she had been strangled. The room plunged into darkness as the following rumble of thunder boomed hard enough to rattle the window.

"Oh no!" the younger boy wailed in the darkness.

"What? What?" Ken demanded.

"My program!" the boy whined, followed a moment later by a quiet exclamation of pain.

"Nerd," Ken snorted in the dark.

"Ne, you didn't have to pinch me," the boy scolded.

"I wonder how long it will take to get the power back on." Youji got off the couch and felt his way along the walls to the kitchen. Their eyes adjusted to the dim light filtering through the window, and they watched the rain beat against the glass. The sound of a plate clattering to the floor, followed by Youji's swearing, was the only sound as Ken and the boy got to their feet.

"I hope Aya-kun drives safely," the boy said quietly, looking at the window.

"Youji, did you find the flashlight yet?" Ken asked, looking from the window to the kitchen. Both young men looked at the kitchen doorway, waiting for an answer. None came.

"Youji-kun?" the boy asked. At the following silence, the two looked at each other.

"Youji?" Ken went to the doorway. "Come on, man."

"The kitchen was empty, writhing shadows thrown across the floor from the rain on the window. Ken stepped into the kitchen, looking around, foot stopping by the plastic plate on the floor.

"Okay, Yo-tan." Ken sighed and crossed his arms. "Ha, ha. Now give me the flashlight. You're scaring Omi."

"I'm not scared!" Omi protested, stepping into the kitchen as if to prove his point. Ken opened the refrigerator and sighed.

"I hope they turn the power back on before this stuff goes bad." He shut the door, pulling out the milk. "Might as well get rid of some of it first."

"Youji-kun!" Omi called, opening the drawers, looking for the flashlight.

"Come on, Yo-tan!" Ken snorted, up-ending the milk carton into his mouth and leaning against the refrigerator. "We're not going to look for you, so you can just quit it."

Omi found the flashlight in the drawer and turned it on, lighting up Ken's face; who threw his arm up, swearing.

"Thanks, Omi, now I'm blind."

"Sorry, Ken-kun." Omi shifted the flashlight around the kitchen. "Youji-kun can't have just disappeared into thin air. We saw him come into the kitchen, so he's in here somewhere."

"Hmm." Ken looked at the cabinet for the water heater. "Where would I hide if I was six feet tall and skinny as a rail?"

"We found you!" Omi threw open the cabinet and came face to face with the water heater. He blinked a moment, then looked back to Ken. "Youji-kun has gained some weight, Ken-kun."

Ken started snickering before he found himself thrown to the floor, landing on his face. He heard Omi scream as a weight pressed down on his back. He lashed out with his arm, trying to strike whatever it was. A hand grabbed his arm, pulling him onto his side. The flashlight lit up Youji's face eerily. He had a finger crooked and a massive grin on his face.

"Red rum, red rum," he rasped, hooking and unhooking the finger before snickering and breaking down into full laughter.

"You asshole!" Ken lunged for him, and Youji just laughed as Ken jumped on him, punching him in the side.

"Youji-kun!" Omi scolded. "We were actually worried about you!"

Youji was too busy laughing and trying to block Ken's fists.

"You should have seen the look on Ken's face!" he managed to get out between chuckles. Ken got up and just started kicking Youji, who just kept trying to roll away from him. A scream of thunder silenced the laughter and Omi winced.

"This is a bad storm." He looked at the window. "I hope Aya-kun's okay."

"Like some water would stop him." Youji got to his feet, holding Ken back with a hand on his forehead, taking advantage of his longer reach. "He's meaner than any storm."

Omi chuckled as Ken kept swinging at Youji ineffectually. Youji huffed on his nails and buffed them on his shirt.

--------------

Aya looked out the glass doors of the hospital, the lightning streaking the sky and the rain pouring down in sheets. "Just my luck."

He pulled his jacket up around his neck and stepped out, instantly drenched. He walked to his car, and looked up at a lit hospital room window once before getting into the car. He pulled into traffic, windshield wipers sloughing rain off the windshield in quick sweeps as he squinted through the mass of blur to see the color of the traffic lights.

"...power outage for twenty city blocks," the radio DJ announced as Aya pulled to a stop.

"Just great," Aya muttered. Very few cars were on the streets, but he drove slowly merely so he could tell what was in front of the car. A streak of lightning that shot down toward the street blinded him momentarily, and when his vision cleared, he saw a shape ahead lit up by his headlights.

"Shit!" He slammed on the brakes, hydroplaning a little before the car stopped. The man in front of his car simply looked at him through the windshield. Aya couldn't see his face, as the man wore a ragged, hooded cloak. The man just stood there, looking into his headlights, and Aya swore. He hit the horn a few times to wake the man up.

"Get out of the road," he muttered under his breath. "Weirdos in this city."

The man might as well have turned to stone. Aya swore, put the car in park, and opened the door, stepping out with one foot.

"Get out of the road!" he yelled. "You trying to get yourself killed?!"

The hooded head lifted, but the face was still in darkness. Then Aya's eyes fell on a shape on the street, hanging from the hooded man's hand. Or where it should have been. All Aya could see was the edges of the cloak. He could make out the small curves of a nose and lips on the silhouette. A dangling arm.

Aya took a quick breath, tensing. The hooded man moved slightly, dragging the limp body along the street.

"Don't move!" Aya yelled at him, reaching inside his car for his katana. He felt his fingers close on the hilt, not taking his eyes from the man.

"Who are you?!" Aya demanded, pulling his katana from its sheath. The man moved, cloak flapping, and Aya jumped away from the car as the body slammed onto the hood. Sightless blue eyes looked up at him from the face of a child, small hand curled limply against the windshield. Aya gasped, looking at the hooded man.

"The time comes," the hooded man said lowly with an incredibly deep voice. "Are you the One?"

Aya tensed himself and leapt forward at the man, katana ready for a killing slash. The man was gone from his path in an instant. Aya's eyes widened as he skidded on his feet, spinning to relocate his opponent. He gasped to feel cold fingers close on his throat. He was jerked off his feet by the man, who pulled his face close to the darkness in the hood. Aya stared into that darkness, and finally saw pinpoints of light. Lightning flashed, and he was blinded, shutting his eyes at the light.

-----------

When he opened them, he blinked in surprise.

"Onii-chan!" cried a voice, and he felt all the blood leave his face as his sister called to him from the crowd of people ahead. She wore her familiar school uniform, and her face was worried. News crews, police, gawkers, all surrounded a building that bore the name Fujimiya.

"Oh God." Aya felt his skin crawl, stepping toward the crowd. "Aya!" he screamed, running at her. "Get away from there!"

She didn't seem to hear him, and he ran with all his might to reach her. He lunged for her arm and his hands passed through it, sending him stumbling through a few other people in the crowd. He looked back and gasped to see himself, younger, standing next to Aya, a worried expression on his face.

"No! Get away from here!" he screamed. "RUN!!!!"

He was immediately deafened by the explosion, sending him screaming in agony. When he could think for himself again, he opened his eyes to see the bodies around him, the debris of the building. In the mist of the dust knelt a young man, staring in horror at the building as blood streaked his face from small wounds.

"Aya!" the young man screamed, crawling over a piece of concrete that the girl lay trapped under. Aya himself ran over to grab the concrete, and his hands kept passing through it as the boy screamed for help to get the concrete off of his sister. Aya kept grabbing for the concrete in denial.

"Horrible," said a deep voice, and Aya looked up to see the hooded man.

"You!" he screamed. "What have you done?!"

"She looks so helpless." The hooded man motioned a hand toward the girl trapped under the cement.

Aya shrieked in rage and leapt at him, but the man was gone before Aya grabbed him, sending him to the ground amid the debris. He tasted blood in his mouth and spat, turning to come face to hood with the man.

"Don't you wish you could change the past?" the darkness in the hood asked.

"Stop this!!" Aya screamed, reaching for the man, who leaned back out of his reach.

"What would you be willing to pay?" asked the man. "What would you be willing to pay to change the past?"

"What are you saying?!" Aya demanded.

"I'm saying this."

Aya blinked to see the building back to normal. Just like any normal day before the explosion.

"'Nii-chan!"

He whirled to see his sister standing by his side, looking disapproving.

"You look like you've seen a ghost." She frowned.

"Aya-chan." He reached out and grasped her arms. Without thinking, he drew her into his arms, holding her to him, smelling the familiar scent of her shampoo. He felt her hug him back, then pull away.

"Are you trying to embarrass me?" She blushed. "What brought that on?"

Aya felt his eyes fill with tears.

"Now you're crying." She shook her head. "Are you sick?"

Aya laughed, wiping at his eyes.

"I'm gonna tell mom you're sick!" She laughed and ran for the door of the building. Aya watched her go for a moment.

"This is what you want, isn't it?" asked that deep voice behind his ear. Aya pulled away from the man, staring after his sister.

"I can give this to you," the man whispered. "Make it all like it never happened."

"H-how?" Aya choked.

"It's within my power," the man hissed.

"Who are you?" Aya didn't take his eyes from his sister's form as she dashed through the doors of the building.

"A friend."

"Why?" Aya finally turned to him. "Why are you offering me this?"

"You don't want it?" the man asked, folding his arms.

"Tell me why!!" Aya yelled at him.

"Ran?" called another voice and Aya turned to see his mother in the doorway, coming down the steps.

"Mother," Aya breathed.

"Yes...or no," the man said behind him. "I can make it happen."

Aya ignored him and stepped toward his mother as she walked quickly toward him.

"Ran, are you feeling okay, dear?" she asked, reaching out a hand to him. Aya reached for her hand, and watched it fade. The rest of his mother followed, fading like a smoky visage. He looked up in panic and saw his environment vanishing into dark haze.

"No!" He whirled on the man. "You can't change the past!"

"Very well," the man sounded regretful, and Aya felt himself falling. He was grateful for the darkness when it came. Anything to bring him a little peace for the moment.

--------------

"It's getting late." Ken turned from the window to look at Youji, who was doing a crossword puzzle by candlelight.

"Blah, blah, blah." Youji snorted. "He can take care of himself."

"But we should go look for him or something," Ken protested.

"Give me a four letter word for anger," Youji answered.

"Fuck!"

"No, the last letter is 'E'." Youji shook his head. Ken bit his lip to try and control himself before he punched the other man out.

"Youji! He's been gone for four hours!" Ken grabbed the crossword book, crunching it in his fist. Youji looked up at him in annoyance.

"Please do keep your voice down, Omi is sleeping. Shhhh." He put his finger to his lips. Ken bit his lip again, and whacked Youji across the head with the book. Youji nearly leapt over the table to get to him, and they froze to hear a scream rip down the hallway.

"Omi?" Ken gasped and Youji nearly fell over in his hurry to get to the hallway as they heard small sounds of terror follow.

"Omi!" Youji grabbed the doorknob with Ken stomping noisily after him.

"Youji-kun!" he heard Omi shriek inside, nearly on the verge of tears.

"Open it!" Ken yelled as Youji jerked on the doorknob, panic growing.

"It's locked!" Youji stepped back and slammed his shoulder into the door. They heard Omi shriek again and Ken launched himself at the door. The door slammed open under their combined efforts and they saw Omi curled up in the far corner of his bed, crying in terror.

"What –" Ken started before he saw two small, glowing, red lights on the outside of the window turn away from it.

"Holy shit!" He jerked back against the doorframe, nearly knocking Youji over. It was silent for a few breaths but for Omi crying. Ken slowly walked over toward the window as Youji hurried over to the bed.

"Don't, Ken-kun!" Omi cried, grabbing at Youji's arm and nearly pulling him onto the bed.

"I got it, I got it." Ken picked up one of Omi's sneakers up off the floor and held it like a weapon. He carefully stepped up to the window, and peered out of it. He slowly slid it open, ready to jump back. Rain pelted him and all he saw was the smooth wall outside. He looked up and down, then to the sides, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. He carefully closed the window as Youji tried to calm Omi down.

"What was that?" Ken pointed the sneaker at the window, stepping away from it.

"I don't know!" Omi sniffled as Youji examined his hands.

"Let's go into the living room," Youji slipped off the bed, holding Omi's wrist. "Not enough light here."

Ken watched the window as they left the room, backing out of it cautiously.

-----------

In the living room, Youji had Omi sit on the table as he moved a few more candles over.

"Ken, look at this," Youji insisted, and Ken leaned in to see small red scratches on Omi's hands. Omi stared at his own hands as Ken and Youji examined them, looking at the scratches.

"Cat?" Ken asked.

"Too small." Youji shook his head. "Omi?"

Omi swallowed, trying to wipe the drying tears on his cheeks. "I was sleeping, and I woke up because I felt something land on me. I thought one of you had come in and had put your hand on my shoulder or something. I looked back and there was this...thing...on my back."

Omi shuddered, and Ken put a hand on his shoulder. "Describe it."

"Do you know what a gargoyle looks like?" Omi asked. Ken and Youji nodded.

"Okay." Omi swallowed. "Then picture one about eight inches tall."

"Oh geez!" Ken choked. "Are you serious?"

Omi nodded. "I tried to make it get off, and it bit me."

He lifted his hands, showing the small red scratches. He hiked up his pants legs and showed them similar small scratches on his lower legs. "I got it off of me, but it kept coming after me. It was only just as you opened the door that it...seemed to go through the wall."

"Oh shit." Ken looked around the room.

"Gremlin, goblin," Youji muttered. "Something like that, but they're not real."

"It sure looked real enough to me!" Ken yelled at him. "You can't convince me I just saw the reflection of someone's brake lights!"

"Stop screaming." Youji looked at him. "I'm right next to you."

"Where's Aya-kun?" Omi asked.

"Okay, that's it!" Ken stomped for the hallway closet. "I'm going out to look for him. There's some freaky stuff going on, and I for one am not going to just sit here!"

-----------

"Aya!"

Aya heard his name called as if in a distant dream.

"Aya!"

Something was tapping on his face, and it was annoying.

"Aya! Open your eyes!"

He did and immediately shut them again as water pounded into them.

"Come on, Aya!"

He lifted his arm to protect his eyes and opened them, blinking away water to see a hooded figure leaning over him. He struck out at it wildly, felt himself connect, then scuttled away from it. The hooded figure clutched at its face and flung the hood back.

"What the hell?!" Ken demanded, holding his cheek.

"Ken?" Aya blinked. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?!" Ken demanded. "I came to look for you! You were laying here in the road like you were dead!"

Aya looked around at the cascading rain to see Ken's motorcycle, and his car, still running. He scrambled to his feet to look at his car hood. No child lay there, and any evidence of one having been there long washed away.

"Was there a body on the hood when you got here?" he demanded, looking back to his irritated teammate.

"There was only one body here, Aya." Ken snarled. "And that was you."

Aya put his hand to his forehead, trying to figure out if it had been a dream. But why would he get out of his car to faint in the rain?

"So what happened? Why were you in the street?"

Aya looked back at Ken, rain running down his face in streams. "Nothing."

"Nothing?!" Ken demanded. "Yeah, I'm sure you just felt like passing out in the middle of the street. If you don't start talking, I'm going to drag you to the hospital right now."

"I'm fine," Aya said flatly. "Just fine."

Ken clenched his fists in frustration. Sometimes he just wanted to beat Aya senseless. But it wouldn't do any good.

"Fine then. Come on, let's go home," he finally sighed.

Aya clenched his fist, and nodded. He knelt to pick up his katana, placing it back into the car.

"The power's out," Ken said as he turned away.

"I heard."

"And something attacked Omi."

"What?"

"We'll tell you more when we get home."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.
    
    27 February, 1998
    
    11: 35 PM

Crayola blue splashes lit up the dark walls of the alleyway. Figures dressed in lumpy raincoats muttered to each other as they shook their heads. Beyond them, a rolling cot was raised to its upright position, shaking its burden, hidden by a crimson-stained sheet.

Aya ran the events though his mind as he followed Ken's motorcycle. Had that man really been there? Had he really offered to save his sister? Was that even possible? No. You can't change the past. All there was now was revenge.

He parked in a daze, and sighed at the soaked interior of the car. Ken waited for him with a flashlight in his hand. The street was dark but for the dim light from the windows of the house.

"It's a crazy night, Aya." Ken shrugged. Aya didn't answer him, just following him to the door. They stepped in, dripping water.

"We're back!" Ken called, taking off his raincoat.

"You found him?" Omi hopped off the couch, dragging a small blanket with him, wrapped around his shoulders.

"I did. Unconscious in the street." Ken nodded.

"Drinking, Aya?" Youji teased, leaning over the back of the couch. Aya glared at him.

"What happened, Aya-kun?" Omi asked, looking at his sopping wet clothes.

"I'm not sure." Aya stepped past him.

"Not sure?" Youji stood up, folding his arms and tilting his head. "Not sure how you ended up unconscious in the street? This I gotta hear."

Aya glared at him again. "I don't want to talk about it."

"But, Aya-kun," Omi said worriedly. "We were really worried. Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine." Aya stepped down the hallway to his room.

"And there he goes." Youji sighed.

"Something funky must have happened." Ken folded his arms. "He had his katana out, and he asked about a body laying on the hood of his car."

"There was a body?" Omi stared at him.

"No, there wasn't." Ken looked to him seriously.

"Hmm." Youji tapped his lips with a finger. "I know what I need here."

"What, Youji-kun?" Omi asked.

"I need a smoke, and badly." He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Omi glowered at him.

"I'm going to put on some dry clothes." Ken slicked water out of his hair at the younger boy.

"Hey!" Omi protested with a smile.

-----------

Ken stepped into the shower, dropping his wet clothes in the hamper, grateful that at least the water worked. He let the hot water flow down his head as he leaned his hands and forehead against the wall. Aya unconscious in the street, looking like he'd lost a fight.

Omi being attacked by a mini-monster in his bedroom. The power out with the mother of all storms outside. It was like a nightmare, or a horror movie.

He let the water splash on his face, squeezing his eyes shut. It's not Friday the 13th. It's not Halloween. This isn't some cheap horror flick. And if it is, I wonder if I'm getting paid for my part.

He shampooed his hair, grumbling. He finished washing and stepped into the light of the candle on the sink. Lightning flashed through the window, and he sighed. He redressed, feeling much better and refreshed. Toweling his hair dry, he grabbed his CD player and stepped back out.

"Hey," he called. "Let's play some music. I don't think anyone is going to be sleeping."

No one answered him.

Blinking, he stepped down the hallway. "Youji? Omi?"

From where he was, he could see the front door was open, rain trailing in with the wind.

"You just had to have a smoke." Ken sighed, placing the CD Player on the table, and went to close the door.

"Youji..." He stopped to find no one standing outside. Frowning, he closed the door.

"Now why was the door open?" he muttered to himself, turning to the living room. What greeted his eyes sent him staggering back against the door. Youji was in front of the couch, two feet off the ground, hanging in midair, upright. He had his hands to his throat, kicking, as he slowly rotated.

"Holy shit!" Ken rushed forward and grabbed his legs, holding him up.

"Ken!" Youji choked, rasping for breath with a panicked look on his face.

"What the hell?" Ken demanded. Eyes widening, he looked around the room. They were alone. How had this happened?

"Aya!" he screamed. "AYA!!"

Youji was straining for air, and Ken kept trying to hold him up, to alleviate the weight of Youji's own body.

"AYA! God dammit!"

He could only listen to Youji wheeze as he waited for a response.

"AYA!!!"  he screamed at the top of his lungs. He heard a door slam open and Aya ran out in a towel, dripping water. His katana was in his hand, and he took in the scene quickly, eyes wide.

"Hurry! Get a chair! Something!" Ken yelled. Aya grabbed a table chair and shoved it under Youji's feet, who stepped onto it quickly, feet scrabbling for purchase. Ken shoved the couch over and climbed up onto the back, balancing carefully. He finally saw what he suspected. Youji's wire was wrapped around the light fixture for the room, and then around the tall blonde's neck.

"Aya, your katana!" he called, and Aya handed it to him. Ken drew his arm back and cut the wire in two. Youji crumpled so fast he would have fallen off the chair and hit the floor if Aya hadn't caught him. Aya quickly unwound the wire from Youji's throat and Youji started coughing and gasping wildly.

"Youji, what happened?" Ken demanded, hopping off the couch, leaning the katana against the back of it.

"Knock at the door," Youji rasped, coughing. "Man in cloak."

"Man in a cloak?!" Aya demanded, grabbing Youji by the front of his shirt.

"Let go of him, Aya!" Ken shoved Aya away with his shoulder, and Aya glared at him, eyes icy cold. Youji sat up, holding his bleeding throat with one hand and taking deep breaths as he recovered his ability to breathe.

"Youji, where's Omi?" Ken demanded. 

Youji looked at him in shock, then pointed toward the hallway. "Told him...to get you..."

Ken and Aya looked at the hallway, then to each other. "Oh shit."

Aya pulled Youji to his feet and they stepped back toward the hallway. Ken grabbed the flashlight, and opened the hallway closet first. He spotted a baseball bat in it and grabbed it for an extra weapon. Since his own door was next, he pushed it open slowly with the bat. He flashed the light around, seeing nothing unusual. Besides the growing pile of laundry. He looked back to the others and shook his head, closing the door.

Next was Youji's room across the hall. Ken pushed open the door again, shining the light around. The light stopped on a figure sitting on Youji's bed.

"Freeze! Right there, buddy!" Ken yelled. The figure didn't move. The flashlight lit up copper hair and Omi's white T-shirt.

"Omi?" Ken asked. The boy was facing away from them, facing the head of Youji's bed, and the wall.

"Omi?" Aya asked quietly. "Answer me."

The boy still didn't move and Ken slowly stepped forward. He stepped around the side of the bed, looking at Omi's face. The boy's eyes were wide open, staring at the wall. Ken followed his gaze. Written in small streaks of something dark over the headboard were letters in no language Ken understood. He stared at the letters, feeling his breathing quicken.

"Omi, I'm going to touch your shoulder," Ken said carefully. He reached out and slowly gripped Omi's shoulder. When Omi didn't react, Ken pulled him toward himself, and Omi fell toward his direction. He pulled Omi off the bed and gathered him up in his arms, then backed out of the room. They moved back into the kitchen, and put the boy down on the table. Omi kept staring straight up at the light.

"Omi, wake up," Ken said worriedly. "Blink, do something."

Youji took one of the boy's hands and held it up, looking at the others. Blood smeared Omi's fingertips.

"What happened to him?" Ken asked in a whisper.

"Ken, get the first aid kit. Youji, the man in the cloak," Aya started giving orders. "What did he do? Where did he go?"

Youji put down Omi's hand and clenched his fists. "There was a knock at the door, and I answered it. There was a man in a cloak. He said he wanted to see the One. Who the hell is the One? Anyway, I told him he was at the wrong house, and he said he wasn't, and pushed the door open. That's when I sent Omi after you guys. I told the guy to get out, and he...he..."

They waited for Youji to collect himself.

"He said he could bring Asuka back to me." Youji buried his face in his hands. "God, Asuka...Asuka, she was right there, I could touch her, feel her...."

Aya's hand trembled. "He asked you what you were willing to pay?"

Youji stared at him, but Aya's gaze revealed nothing.

"What did he offer you, Aya?" Youji's expression hardened. "What took you so long to come home and to come out of your room when Ken was calling?"

Aya rose to his feet, and looked away from Youji, turning his back on the irate assassin.

"You want to know why I was laying in the street? Because a man in a hooded cloak dropped the body of a dead child onto the hood of my car, and he offered to make my life the way it was. Before Takatori killed my parents and put my sister into a coma."

Youji and Ken stared at his back. It was the longest speech they'd ever heard out of the brooding redhead.

"But you can't change the past." Aya turned to face them, face cold as ever. "You can only mold the future."

"You turned him down." Youji stared at him. Aya moved his gaze away from Youji's face to his shoulder, unwilling to meet his gaze.

"I...I said no, too." Youji wrung his hands, turning his own gaze down at the table.

"Why?" Ken asked, opening the first aid kit next to Omi on the table.

"It's it obvious, Kenken?" Youji asked. "Can't you figure out who this man is? Offering all you could ever want, in exchange for something?"

Ken just blinked at him. Youji stood up and lit a cigarette, hands shaking. "Temptation, Ken."

Aya looked up. "You're not serious."

Youji took a deep drag and looked at Aya, blowing a long stream of smoke out. "Am I the only one who paid attention in Sunday School?"

"You're saying this guy is the devil?" Ken gasped. Youji took another puff.

"I think I understand temptation, Ken," he said lowly. "I often can't resist it. And a stranger on a stormy night with eyes like coals is not your average visitor."

"But that's impossible!" Ken snapped, tearing open a package of gauze. "The devil is running around Tokyo, picking on us?"

"Who do you think deserves his attention as much, Ken?" Youji slammed his hand down on the table. "Do you think we're going to go to heaven? Remember the commandments? Thou shalt not kill, Ken! How many times have we broken that commandment?"

Ken stared at him in horror, crushing the square piece of gauze into a small ball.

"And now it's our turn," Aya said lowly. "He's come to collect his due."

"Ahh, hell no!" Ken stood up in anger. "I'm not going to just accept the devil coming for our souls! He can't have mine without a fight!"

They all turned to hear Omi mumble and blink.

"Omi?" Ken asked as Omi blinked again and looked around himself, then sat up slowly.

"What happened?" he asked, looking around dazed.

"You tell us." Ken frowned. "I came out of the shower to find Youji hung, and then you were sitting on Youji's bed, staring at letters on the wall."

"Youji hung?" Omi stared at Youji. Youji looked at the boy and lifted his chin, showing the blood-filled lines marking his neck. Then the lights flickered back on and everyone looked around the room.

"Well, that's a relief, I guess," Ken sighed.

"Let's clean everyone up." Aya reached for the first aid kit.

-----------

Wounds were dressed and the TV was turned back on for background noise.

"Sixteen inches of rain over Tokyo," the anchor bravely continued to report the news. "We can expect this storm to stay with us for the next two days."

"Great," Ken sighed, glancing out the window.

"Flood warnings are in effect for all of Tokyo, and citizens are advised to stay in their homes."

"No sane man would be out there." Youji rubbed his arms as if he were cold. "Only Aya."

Aya frowned from bandaging Omi's fingers. He had redressed, taking Youji with him, having decided no one would be left alone at any time.

"I guess that means no school tomorrow," Omi sighed.

"Heh, vacation." Ken snickered. "We won't be opening the shop either."

"If Manx or Birman show up with a mission in all of this..." Youji trailed off.

"I don't think even the bad guys would be operating in this." Omi looked at the window.

"This whole night is freaky." Ken folded his arms. "I mean, the devil, monsters, an' the other stuff. I should think we would be high-tailing it for a hotel somewhere."

"We're perfectly fine here, Ken," Aya said boredly. "Hotels cost, and what makes you think he wouldn't follow?"

"Well, hell, we got a fight on our hands, and we're not even preparing for it!" Ken snapped, flinging his arms down at his sides.

"Tell us how to prepare for it." Aya looked to him. Ken opened his mouth to answer, then closed it, realizing he had no idea. Aya nodded at him, and went to put the first aid kit away.

"Crap." Ken pouted. "I can't take just sitting here and waiting for something to happen."

Omi looked up at him from his chair. "Ken-kun, I have to go to the bathroom."

Ken sighed. "Okay. Use mine."

-----------

Youji stared at the TV as he heard Aya move around in the kitchen.

"You know, Ken's right," he said.

Aya stepped out of the kitchen with a knife and an apple, peeling it. "You have suggestions?"

"I want to get something from my room, come with me."

-----------

Youji turned on the lights to his room, looking briefly at the obscure writing on the wall.

"Do you think Omi actually wrote that?" Aya asked, looking at it as Youji opened his dresser.

"I'd say no, but his fingers were bleeding," Youji sighed, pulling a book from a drawer.

"What does it mean?" Aya asked quietly.

"How should I know?" Youji asked. "It's gibberish."

He stepped over, tucking the book tightly under his arm.

"And what's that?"

Youji paused next to Aya, and turned to look down at his face. "It's the Bible, Aya. What's better to fight the devil?"

-----------

"What does it say?" Youji asked the confused, copper-haired boy who once again stared at the symbols on the wall.

Omi blinked at it. "I don't know."

"But you wrote it," Aya said quietly.

"I didn't write that." Omi shook his head, still staring at the lettering.

"Then who did?"

Omi turned to look at them, blue eyes luminous. "I don't know."

"But you were staring at it."

Omi looked back at the letters. "All I remember was running back to get Ken-kun. When I got to his door, the next thing I knew I was lying on the table."

Everyone gave each other glances, wondering if the others had an explanation. The same confused look was returned. Omi set his lip, looking back from the letters to the others. "I didn't write that."

"It wasn't the man in the hood," Youji said quietly. "He was busy hanging me."

"Then there's something else as well?" Ken asked. "Great!"

Omi looked to him, a touch of fear in his face. Noticing the look, Aya spoke up.

"Ken, getting angry won't help."

Ken raised an eyebrow, unused to Aya trying to calm him down. It was usually Omi's job. But looking at the boy indicated he was not thinking about calming anyone down at the moment.

"It's Latin or something," Youji said suddenly. "The language priests use in prayer. It must be."

"Anyone happen to have a priest handy?" Ken asked dourly, then bit his lip, knowing it wasn't helping.

"Omi, can you translate it on your computer?" Aya asked. 

"I'll try," Omi said quietly, lowering his gaze to the floor.

-----------

Omi scribbled the words down on paper and they moved into his room. He scanned the paper in, and set about to have it analyzed.

"Hmm." Omi slowly looked back over his shoulder after a bit of work. "I got news."

"What?" the other three asked eagerly.

"It's not Latin."

"Then what is it?"

"The computer doesn't recognize it. It's not any known language in any country."

"Did you try it backwards?" Youji asked.

"Of course, Youji!"

The others blinked at the sudden show of temper, and Omi turned his gaze away guiltily.

"Gomen nasai," he said quietly.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3.
    
    February 28, 1998
    
    8:20 AM 

Crayola blue splashes lit up the dark walls of the alleyway. Figures dressed in lumpy raincoats muttered to each other as they shook their heads. Beyond them, a rolling cot was raised to its upright position, shaking its burden, hidden by a crimson-stained sheet.

Aya awoke, feeling cramped and generally awful. And his left arm was missing. He looked at where the appendage should have been and saw Youji sleeping on it. He slowly shifted his arm out from under Youji's head and shook it a little, trying to encourage blood flow back into it. The members of Weiß had fallen asleep together in the living room for the security of them all.

They had started out with someone to stand watch; Youji had offered to take the first two hours. Now, Youji lay sprawled on his back on the floor, legs hidden by a dark green flannel blanket. Omi had migrated into the crook of Youji's arm, head on Youji's chest. He'd curled a blanket around himself as tightly as he could, making himself into a light blue ball with golden hair. Ken was asleep across Aya's legs, head and shoulders resting on Omi's back. He'd dressed for a fight, bugnuck gloves on his hands.

Aya recalled Ken waking him up for his shift, and wondered how he'd gotten from the couch to the floor, then under Youji's head. He must have dozed off for a few. He quietly got to his feet, sitting back on the couch, and glanced over at the window to still see rain sheeting it. The TV was still on, broadcasting a documentary about storms.

Now there's rain on the TV. Aya picked up the remote and checked for weather reports. His watch said eight-twenty in the morning, but you couldn't tell by the darkness outside.

"Flooding on many streets has trapped motorists who attempted to brave the storm," the anchorman announced as he found the sought after channel. "Rescue efforts are underway. Again, citizens are advised to stay indoors. Weather experts are calling this storm the worst we've had in years, with the heaviest rainfall. It is believed to have come from the Pacific, moving westward over Japan."

Aya sighed, sitting on the couch and watching the other three sleep.

"In other news, the body of eleven-year-old Suzuki Ryohei was found early this morning, lying in a dumpster," the anchorman continued, and the smiling face of a boy appeared on the television. Aya felt his blood run cold.

"Ryohei was found missing from his home at about ten o'clock last night. Details of his death have yet to be released."

Sightless blue eyes looked up at Aya from the face of a child, small hand curled limply against the windshield.

"Ryohei." Aya grit his teeth, closing his eyes.

"Suzuki Ryohei would have been twelve years old tomorrow," the anchorman continued.

"Why?" Aya demanded of no one in particular. "Why did he kill a child? The boy hadn't done anything."

He cursed under his breath, getting up and walking into the kitchen. He flipped on the lights and blinked in the glare. Grumbling, he opened the rice cooker, making himself a bowl of rice. Then he opened the refrigerator for the stir-fry Omi had made for last night's dinner.

Aya gasped and threw himself back against the counter from the creature that stood there on the top shelf. Its skin was black and smooth, standing like a man at about eight inches tall. It had a face like a bat and glowing red eyes. It seemed to snicker at him, lifting small arms with tiny claws.

Aya grabbed open a drawer by his arm and pulled out a chopping knife. He pointed it at the creature, stepping forward slowly. It snuffled and snorted like a small pig, beady red eyes watching him. Aya stepped close enough to kick the refrigerator door closed with a slam. He heard it squeal inside and backed out of the kitchen, knife in hand.

"Aya?" he heard Ken's voice mutter sleepily.

"Get up, Ken." Aya watched the refrigerator door. "Get the others up. Now."

Ken saw the knife in Aya's hand and scrambled to his feet, quickly shaking the others awake.

"What is it?" Youji asked irritably.

"There's something in the refrigerator," Aya said slowly. "And it looks like a demon."

"Demon." Omi breathed, grabbing onto Youji's arm to stand up.

"That's it, devil or no devil, Aya, let's get out of here." Ken hurried to and opened the closet door, reaching for their raincoats. He screamed and everyone jumped.

"SHIT!" Ken shrieked, jerking on his arm, which stayed in the closet, his other hand holding onto the doorframe.

"Ken!" Youji dashed over to help him, Omi hot on his heels. Youji came up behind Ken to see the darkness of the closet full of glowing red eyes, and Ken's hand in the middle of them. Small cackling and snuffling noises emitted from the darkness. Omi screamed, backing up, and Youji grabbed onto Ken's shoulder, jerking him back. Ken came loose, stumbling them both back against the wall and off their feet. Aya was by their side in an instant.

Ken started crushing Youji against the wall, backpedaling and crying out in panic as the little black creatures started piling out of the closet. Aya sent the first one flying with a vicious kick and it squealed as it flew down the hallway.

"Get up!" Aya yelled, and Ken scrambled to his feet, Omi pulling on Youji's arm to get him up. They ran toward the door, and Ken nearly tore the doorknob off while opening it. The others slammed into his back, thrusting him through the door into the rain when he froze in the doorway. A figure, cloaked in black, stood on the sidewalk in front of the door.

"You!" Aya drew his arm back and let the knife fly. The knife embedded into the cloaked figure, who simply reached up and pulled it out, dropping it to the ground. Rain started washing away the dark substance on the blade.

"What do you want?!" Youji demanded.

The cloaked figure lifted one cloak-covered hand, holding it open as if he expected something. "The time has come. Give unto me the One."

"The One?" Aya demanded. "What are you talking about?"

Omi screamed from behind them, and they turned to see the creatures about to climb their legs. They started cursing and stomping, flinging the creatures off and into the rain.

"Call them off!" Ken yelled, dashing at the hooded man, claws flipping forward into place. "I don't care if you are the devil! I'll take you down anyway!"

The hooded man watched Ken come at him, then a covered hand shot out, lightning fast, grabbing him up by the throat and jerking him off the ground.

"Are you the One?" the man rumbled, and Ken looked into glowing eyes like coals.

--------------

Ken blinked to see a soccer ball roll by his feet and looked up to see a sunny day.

"What the...?" he trailed off to see his old J-League team rushing at him.

"Crap!" He threw his arms up, but they rushed right through his body, kicking the ball away. Ken blinked in shock, patting his chest. It felt solid to him.

"Ken! Over here!"

Ken turned his head to see a familiar young man standing by the field, leaning on the fence and grinning.

"Kase!" he heard his own voice yell happily, and his eyes fell on himself in a soccer uniform in front of the goal. The younger, more innocent version of Ken waved at the young man on the fence and focused on the ball coming at him, calculating where it would fly, and jumped. Legs kicked up into the air, throwing his body in a sideways twist to kick the ball out of the air and back away from the goal. The team herded like chickens after the bouncing ball.

"Kase..." Ken gasped, looking around himself. "This isn't real..."

"But it could be."

He spun to see the hooded man standing behind him and jerked away, falling into a defensive stance.

"This could be real, Ken," the hooded man said softly. "If you want it to be. You can live the life you were meant to live. A champion soccer player. You miss it, don't you?"

"You can't tempt me." Ken clenched his teeth. "You'll give me this in exchange for my soul? Is that it? Well, I'm not handing my soul over to you."

"Ahh, you shouldn't look at it that way," the hooded man protested. "And you can keep your soul. Just give me the One."

"I don't know who that is!" Ken snapped. "How am I supposed to hand anything over if I don't know what it is?!"

"The One passed over thrice. The One that comes from the darkness of man. The One that exists, yet does not exist."

"That's really helps," Ken grumbled. "You got any more hints?"

"Give unto me the One that can renew the world, and you can have anything you want in that shining new world."

"Only God can renew the world." Ken narrowed his eyes. "And there's no way I can hand him over."

"God," the hooded man repeated. "The one that just sat back and watched this happen to you."

"He didn't have anything to do with it!"

"Exactly." The hooded man crossed his arms. "And you know why? Because he doesn't care. He doesn't care, Ken. I care. I'm here because I care about all of you. I can fix everything that went wrong, cleanse this world of all the filth God cursed on you, and start it anew. I want to do that for you. And you want me to do it."

"I sure as hell never filled out that poll." Ken shook his head.

"Not just you, Ken. The entire human race cries out to be saved. To be saved from disease, to be saved from the other humans who have lost their humanity. They know they aren't 'worthy' of God. I can make them worthy. That was the whole point of my argument with 'him'. He said none of you were worthy of his heaven. He had made sure of it. He created sin, greed, lust, all of it. He stacked the cards against you. He intends for you to destroy yourselves. He's bored of the human race, Ken. I marveled at his creation. I loved him for creating man. Then he turned his back on you. I still love the human race, Ken. And he doesn't."

"Okay, my lie detector is going nuts," Ken said boredly. "Stop yapping, cause I'm tired of it. I'm not giving you my soul, and I don't know who the One is, so get out of my face."

The hooded man unfolded his arms. "As you wish."

-----------

Aya slammed his own body against the wall, grimacing as he heard the angry squeals of the creatures he crushed. Youji was ripping the creatures off and stomping on them one by one. Omi was grabbing creatures and throwing them right and left, only to have them come running back.

"Ken!" Youji yelled, stomping one creature that screamed horribly every time his foot came down. Ken was still in eye-lock with the hooded man; so utterly motionless, he could have been paralyzed. Aya grabbed up his katana from beside the couch, ignoring creatures clinging all over his body, biting into his flesh.

"Let him go!" Aya screamed, running out into the rain. The hooded man lifted his head, opening his hand to drop Ken to the sidewalk, who crumpled without any attempt to catch himself. Aya leapt into the air, dropping creatures, and slashed down at the man, who was already out of his path. Aya landed hard, his katana clanging against the ground.

"The One is here. The One calls out to me and I will find the One!" the hooded man boomed from his right, and blinked out of existence.

Aya glanced around to see if he reappeared and quickly knelt to grab Ken's arm, who still lay sprawled in the rain. A creature hissed at him from Ken's chest and he punched it off, cutting its hiss off into a chirp. He grabbed the waist of Ken's pants and heaved with both of his hands to get Ken up off the ground and over his shoulder. A creature squealed as it flew by, punted out the door by Youji.

"Get out of the house!" Aya yelled and was nearly drowned out by a boom of thunder. Youji grabbed Omi's arm and drug him out of the house, slamming the door shut behind them.

"Where are we going?" he demanded, grabbing a creature from the back of Omi's neck and throwing it across the street.

"Only one place I can think of!" Aya kicked a few more creatures off his legs.

-----------

Youji looked up at the stained glass window at the far end of the building, Omi's arms around his neck.

Lightning flashed, lighting up the white dove with a green twig in its beak on a background of blue. A white cross glowed just behind the dove in the window. A man, knelt in prayer before the front altar, turned his head to look at them as they came in.

"You brought us to a church." Youji started breathy chuckles as rain streaked his face, still dripping down through his hair. "Aya, you're a genius."

Aya didn't answer, stepping forward to let Ken down on a pew in the back.

"He can't come after us here, can he?" Omi asked as Youji knelt down a little to let the boy slide off his back.

"I wouldn't think so." Youji ran his hands through his hair, squeezing water out of it. The man at the altar got to his feet, straightening a black, robe-like jacket as he walked forward to them.

"Please, my son," he said to Aya, who watched him approach. "Do not bring weapons into the house of God."      

Aya looked down at the katana still in his hand, and placed it on the floor by the pew.

"Forgive me, Father," he said quietly. Youji and Omi stared.      "Did I just hear Aya say that?" Youji whispered. "Pinch me."

Aya turned to hear Youji yelp in pain. 

"I wasn't serious!" Youji hissed at Omi. Omi blinked at him innocently.

"Father." Aya looked back to the priest. "We need your help."

"Confessions are in the morning, my son," the priest said apologetically. 

"Father," Youji spoke up. "What my talkative friend means to say it that the devil is after us."

The priest looked at Youji as if he'd just requested to see him naked.

"Father," Omi added. "He really is. He keeps asking for the One. And there are these little demon creatures that were attacking us."

The priest looked to Omi as if studying him for sanity. "The One?"

"The One passed over thrice," Ken rasped and coughed, grabbing the back of the pew to pull himself up to sitting position.

"Ken-kun!" Omi stepped over to him. "You're all right!"

"Of course." Ken tried to smile and grimaced instead. "Like I said, I'm not giving up my soul without a fight."

"The One passed over thrice," the priest repeated. He turned and walked toward the altar, then vanished into the side wing.

"What does that mean, Ken?" Youji asked, sitting down on the adjacent pew.

"It was what that guy said." Ken rubbed his head. "He said he wanted the One that had been passed over thrice; that came from the darkness of man. Someone that exists, but doesn't exist."

"Cryptic shit," Youji sighed. "Exists, but doesn't exist?"

"It sure scared off the priest," Omi murmured. Aya sat down on another pew, clutching his hands together and rocking his feet from heel to toe.

"What does he want this 'One' for?" he asked.

"Some shit about cleansing the world with him or her and starting it over."

"Armageddon," Youji said quietly. "But that's bullshit. Armageddon starts with earthquakes, and horrible storms, and plagues, and the dead walking, and all sorts of stuff. Not just a night of rain."

"That's what he said," Ken sighed. "He said a lot of bullshit."

"It's a lesser known prophecy," the priest called from the wing as he walked back out, carrying a book. They watched the priest walk down to them.

"Lesser known?" Youji asked.

"The One is the host." The priest sat down in the pew in front of Youji. "A body. The reason why this prophecy is lesser known is because it isn't Armageddon itself, and the possibility of it happening is near improbable."

"Then what is it?" Aya asked.

"Only God may be born in flesh," the priest explained. "He has prevented the Dark One from being able to do so. But he cannot close off all venues. His only loophole was to make one body available every thousand years. And he encrypted the description of that one body so that it may be impossible to find."

"Why does Satan need a body?" Ken asked.

"God created his most amazing miracles through the body of his only son, Jesus Christ." The priest rested his elbows on the open book in his lap. "Human bodies have that kind of power. Angels in human bodies can perform small miracles they could not if they did not have bodies."

"Angels in human bodies?" Omi blinked. "That happens?"

The priest nodded. "They watch over us in subtle ways, because that is the way of God."

"So the devil is seeking a body to perform a miracle?" Aya asked.

"In that human body, the Dark One can bring about the Armageddon through sneakier means," the priest explained. "He can slip by the immediate notice of the other angels in a human body. It will take more time, but the end will still be the same."

"So this is that time in that thousand years that the body is available," Youji added.

"It appears so. It has been nearly forgotten."

"So what happened to the last host?" Omi asked.

"I cannot say." the priest sighed. "The host may not always make it to maturity. That host is just as susceptible to accidental death, disease, and all else, just as the rest of us. The last host may have died in infancy."

"So one of us may be the host," Youji said slowly. "That must be why he's picking on us."

"One of you may be." The priest nodded. "Or he thinks you are. And he has a time limit. The dark one must take the host body at a certain time, or his chance is gone again for another thousand years."

"And when is that?" Ken asked seriously.

"That we do not know."

"We don't know a lot," Aya said dourly.

"Stay in the house of God." The priest stood. "If one of you is indeed the host, then you are safest here."

Youji nodded slowly and the priest made a beckoning wave with his hand.

"Come. We'll give you a place to sleep and dry off."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4.
    
    28 February, 1998
    
    12:30 PM

"The body of seventeen-year-old Shizo Tsuki was found today, continuing a trail of killings that started four days ago."

Aya looked to the small television in the room of cots they had been given as he ate a sandwich. Youji and Omi had gone exploring and Ken had gone to use the restroom, leaving Aya alone with his thoughts.

"Tsuki would have turned eighteen tomorrow, leading the police to name the murderer the Leap Year Killer. The police have aired a warning and a plea."

The picture on the screen changed to an official-looking police officer with a microphone thrust into his face. "We ask all citizens who were born on the day of the leap year to be extra cautious as to who they allow into their homes. Each victim has been a child of the leap year."

Something itched in the back of Aya's mind, but he couldn't quite scratch it. He was jolted from his brooding by a cry of pain that came from the bathroom, followed by the clattering of metal, and the sound of something heavy hitting the floor.

He threw aside his sandwich and rushed to the door with purposeful strides, jerking it open to see his teammate prone on the floor. The towel bar had been torn down, and Ken had spread his arms out from his body, fully extending them as he convulsed against the floor. Blood pooled on the tile floor under his left hand.

Aya hesitated to step into the bathroom, looking around carefully to make sure they were alone.

"Ken?" he asked worriedly, kneeling on one knee next to the twitching Weiß member.

"A-A-A..." Ken stuttered, eyes wild as he looked up at the redhead before he screamed again, and Aya stared in horror to see a small explosion splatter red on the floor and wall near Ken's right hand. Aya grasped at the air, searching for whatever was attacking his teammate, coming up with nothing.

"Shit, shit, shit." Ken panted, his body finally coming to rest as he stopped struggling.

"What?!" Aya demanded, leaning over him, staring intensely. Ken lifted his hands, staring at the blood running down his arms from dark, open wounds in his wrists. Aya grabbed his left arm, turning the hand to see the wound went all the way through.

"What did this?!" he demanded, grabbing the towel from the floor and wrapping it around the wrist, squeezing it tightly to try and cut off the flow.

"I d-don't know." Ken kept staring at his other wrist with a kind of horrified fascination.

Aya jerked on his arm, drawing Ken's eyes to his own. "What. Did. This."

Ken turned away from his lavender gaze, looking back to the sink near his feet. "I-I was just washing my hands. I started to dry them, and my hand just exploded."

Aya looked at the other wrist. He could see light through the hole. He grabbed it as well, wrapping the end of the towel around it tightly.

Ken looked at his trapped hands, and then back up at Aya. "Something threw me to the floor, Aya. I didn't trip or anything, I swear. Something threw me to the floor, and held me there. You saw, didn't you? You know I didn't do this to myself."

"Ken?!" Youji appeared in the doorway, hair falling into his face in his panic. He took in the scene and stepped forward, grabbing Aya's arm.

"What did you do?!" he demanded.

"It wasn't Aya!" Ken yelled as Omi appeared in the doorway. Youji looked to him, then back at Aya's stone-etched face, and let go of his arm.

"Are you okay, Ken-kun?" Omi asked worriedly, wearing a black priest's outfit that was too long for him. Black material dragged on the floor.

"It wasn't Aya," Ken repeated, calmer. "Something attacked me. Something I couldn't see."

"We're not safe, not even here," Aya said evenly, looking ominously at Youji and Omi. Omi grabbed up the excess material with his hands, as if were lifting a skirt, and went to fetch the priests.

"Oh God, this has got to hurt." Youji winced, examining Ken's wrists.

"Actually..." Ken looked at his wrists with him. "It doesn't hurt at all."

"What do you mean? You have gaping holes through your wrists!" Youji stared at him. Ken blinked back at him, at a loss for words and surprised by the outburst.

"You're in shock." Youji pressed his hand to Ken's forehead and cheeks. "That's why you aren't feeling the pain."

"I'm not in shock," Ken protested. "My head hurts from where it hit the floor."

"How can this not hurt?" Youji poked the wound and watched a fresh wave of blood flow out.

An aging priest appeared in the doorway. "I am Father Yutaka. I am the head priest for this church."

"You have demons in your church," Aya said accusingly, leaning against the wall next to Ken and Youji.

"I assure you, there are no demons in this church." Father Yutaka bowed his head respectfully. Then he stepped forward to Ken, revealing Omi and two other priests behind him. Father Yutaka knelt on one knee by Ken, reaching for his hands.

"How were you injured, my son?" he asked gently.

"A ghost, Father," Ken said evenly. "I was attacked by a ghost or something."

Father Yutaka examined Ken's hands, looked up at his face, then made the sign of the cross upon his own chest. "It's the stigmata."

The other two priests stirred, and made the sign of the cross also.

"Are you kidding?" Youji demanded. "Ken having the stigmata? _This_ Ken? _Our_ Ken?"

"He has been blessed by God," Father Yutaka said reverently. "I have never witnessed the stigmata before. God is truly with us."

"What is the stigmata?" Ken asked in irritation of never having heard the word before and yet being afflicted with it.

"The wounds of Christ, my son," Father Yutaka said gently, holding Ken's hands between his own. "The wounds he received on the cross."

"Why do I have them?"

"Only the people God has chosen bear the stigmata," the head priest explained. "And they are usually the highly religious. But God works in mysterious ways, my son. Feel blessed."

"I feel crappy." Ken sighed and Omi giggled. "When does it go away?"

"Only God decides that." Father Yutaka gently pulled Ken to his feet. "Come. With the Fallen One about, as you claim, this may draw him."

"He can't get in here, can he?" Omi asked from the door.

"He cannot stand the might of God, my son," the head priest promised.

-----------

The priests bound Ken's wrists and took him to rest. But the bandages were quickly stained with crimson as soon as they were applied.

Aya, Omi, and Youji were left staring at each other. They were quickly ejected from the bathroom, as other priests came in to clean the blood from the floor. They retreated back to the room of cots.

"The body of fifteen-year-old Sato Kitari was found in the kitchen of her home today, making her the third victim of the day by the Leap Year Killer. The body count now rests at eight since the first victim four days ago."

Omi shivered, sitting next to Aya on his chosen cot. Youji rocked back and forth on his own cot, rubbing his hands together, interlacing his fingers as if he were highly agitated.

"Do you think it's him?" Omi asked the tall redhead, who continued staring at the TV. Aya looked away from the TV at last to look to his teammate.

"I know it's him."

"How?"

"He threw the body of a child onto the hood of my car last night. They identified him as Suzuki Ryohei this morning."

Youji lifted his head to look at Aya, sunglasses having slipped down the length of his nose. Omi looked to his feet.

"Why do you think he's killing them?"

"He's evil."

Omi lifted his head again to see Aya staring back at the television. "Aya-kun?"

"Yes?"

"My birthday's tomorrow. Or would be, if it was the leap year."

Aya froze, his blood running cold. February twenty-ninth. Omi was born on February twenty-ninth. He was turning eighteen. He'd forgotten. Forgotten one of the boy's most important birthdays. He slowly turned to look at the golden-haired boy.

Omi looked back at him with sad eyes. "He wants to kill me too, doesn't he?"

For one horrifying moment, Aya saw Omi lying on the hood of his car instead of the boy Ryohei. He gripped the edge of the cot as he shoved the image from his mind.

"We won't let him," he said, looking away from that dark blue gaze.

"Are you sure?"

Youji took a deep, quick breath, and Aya looked to him to see him gripping the edge of his cot, staring straight ahead. Aya gave him a questioning look as Youji let his breath out in a shuddering gasp.

"Youji-kun?" Omi asked, then his eyes were drawn to the floor, as a thread of dark red began to creep out from under Youji's feet. Omi leapt off the cot, dropping to his knees in a pool of dusky cloth, cupping his hands around Youji's feet.

Aya moved to his knees beside Omi as Youji started to exhale in harsh breaths, sweat rolling down his temples. Omi gingerly pulled Youji's shoes off, and Youji made no effort to resist. His socks were blood soaked, and Omi peeled those off as well. Gaping wounds marked the tops of Youji's feet, and Youji stared at his own feet as if they were something alien.

"The stigmata," he breathed. "It's got me now, too."

Aya looked up into his green eyes, and though he had sounded so calm, fear and uncertainty lived in those eyes.

"I'll get the priests." He stood up, leaving Omi to grab a sheet and wrap it around Youji's feet as Youji pressed his hand to his face, sliding it up to brush his hair back from his sweaty face as he watched Omi. His hand trembled.

-----------

"This is unprecedented," Father Yutaka mused to Aya as priests bound Youji's feet, and Ken sat up on his padded cot to watch in interest. "The stigmata will normally afflict one person. The spreading of the different wounds on different people so soon after each other has never been recorded."

"You mean that was supposed to happen to me?" Ken demanded.

"Yes, my son."

Ken looked at Youji, who looked back at him with worry. Ken rested his chin against his hand, gazing back to Aya and Omi.

"This sucks."

Omi tried to chuckle, but it died in his throat.

"Ah, Kenken, you always did have a way with words." Youji tried to smirk, but it came out as a tired smile.

Ken glanced at him, then back to Aya and Omi. "So which one of you is next?"

Aya did a well-disguised double take. "Next?"

"It struck me, then Youji, so which one of you is next?"

"This is a possibility," Father Yutaka admitted. "But not highly likely."

"Ah, hell no!" Ken shook his head. "It ain't just gonna strike us and not touch them." He pointed his finger at the two. "Bleed. I order you."

"Ken." Youji chuckled nervously. "You're starting to scare me."

Father Yutaka chuckled quietly. "Youth."

Aya looked at Ken with his usual face. The one he wore when he wasn't trying for an expression. Omi looked from Ken to Aya and back again.

"What if it does get one of us?" he asked. "What then?"

"Nothing," Father Yutaka told him. "It will usually go away after a while. The most that has happened in the past was that the blessed person would sometimes prophesize."

"And what do they say?" Ken asked, brushing his bangs back from his face. "The end is near, every man for himself?"

Father Yutaka chuckled dryly again. "Something like that, my son."

--------------

Aya looked up at the stained glass window in the atrium. Lightning made the white cross and dove glow. Under the window was a large replica of Jesus on the cross. Aya looked up at the pain-wracked face of plaster, a light set over it to shine down on the Christ's face like the beam of heaven shining down. Aya stepped up the small steps to the altar in front of the cross.

"Are you doing this to us?" he asked quietly. The statue didn't answer, painted eyes still turned upwards toward the light.

"Aya-kun?"

He turned to see Omi standing at the entrance to the atrium from the wing. He still wore the priest's outfit, seeming to delight in wearing it. In embarrassment, Aya put on his coldest face, and turned his back to the cross. Omi grinned at the familiar expression.

"Don't mind me." He smiled, and hurried past to the middle of the aisle between the pews. Aya watched him run down the aisle, holding up the extra cloth in his hands, black cloth flapping around his legs. Watching Omi run, Aya felt restless. They'd been in the church too long. He felt penned in. Caged. His legs itched to make a flying leap off of the altar steps, and race Omi to the doors.

Before he could really consider it, he was sprinting down the aisle after the boy, stretching his legs out. Omi looked back to see Aya catching up to him, and put on speed, hiking the excess cloth higher.

Aya knew only that he had to win. He had to beat the black clad form to the door. He had to get there first. His long strides quickly brought him up alongside Omi, and then took him beyond, skidding to a stop as his hands touched the door. He turned in triumph, air rushing in and out of his lungs, almost tasting sweet, to see Omi had come to a stop, grinning at him.

"Fine, okay, show off." He smiled broadly. "Just because your legs are longer."

Aya almost let a smile perk his lips, feeling light-hearted for a brief moment. Then he saw the smile fade from Omi's lips as his eyes widened, and he took a tentative step backwards, staring beyond Aya. Aya turned to follow his gaze to the tall, thin window beside the door. Lightning lit up a cloaked figure in shades of gray standing directly on the other side of the window. Aya stepped back away from the door, right hand closing reflexively, reaching for the katana that was back in the cot room.

"Aya-kun," he heard Omi breathe before he felt the boy's hand close on his forearm. He almost jerked away from that gentle grasp.

"He can't come in, he can't come in," Omi chanted breathily, pulling Aya back away from the door.

The hood lifted up enough to reveal glowing red-orange eyes and pain scraped down Aya's head. He clutched at it, feeling as if daggers drug through his skin, slicing through it to scrape across his skull. He fell to one knee in shock and heard Omi call his name in a panic. Warm liquid streaked down his face as his vision began to fade in and out, and he felt the strength fading from his limbs. He was barely aware of his shoulder striking the floor as the sound of his own heartbeat filled his ears, drowning out all other sounds.

His vision faded in and out as if he were fighting sleep, pulsing with the sound of his heart.

*Tha-thump*

The eyes glowing in the darkness of the hood outside the window. Red-orange like burning coals in a fire.

*Tha-thump*

Omi moving forward into his vision toward the door, staring at the figure in the window.

*Tha-thump*

Omi holding his hand out as he stepped toward the window, fingers outstretched toward it.

*Tha-thump*

Red lettering appearing on the wall beside the window as Omi slowly slid his fingers across it.

*Tha-thump*

Bright crimson letters shone wetly in the light as Omi's fingers kept sliding across the white wall, and the glowing eyes turned bright red, shining crimson through the rain-washed glass of the window.

*Tha-thump. Tha-thump. Tha-thump*


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5.
    
    28 February, 1998
    
    3:30 PM

Youji was rolling a cigarette between his lips, not smoking it, but merely holding it was comforting. Ken was trying to talk to a young priest near his cot, working on a computer. Ken was asking for the scores on the latest soccer game. The priest insisted he wasn't allowed to go on the Internet to look for them.

Youji chuckled. Some things never changed. The thought was comforting.

Then the door was pushed open, and two priests entered, carrying a very unresisting Aya between them. Youji sat up quickly as they carried him over to another cot that had been set up shortly after Ken's earlier question of who was next.

"What happened?" He stepped out of his cot to Aya's as Ken scrambled over. Blood streaked down Aya's face from under his hair, his eyes closed.

"The stigmata continues," one of the priests said, stepping over to their supply cabinet and filling a bowl with water.

"Aya." Youji shook his teammate's shoulder. Aya didn't react to the treatment.

"What stigmata is this?" Ken demanded.

"The crown of thorns." The priest carried over the bowl and a washcloth, brushing back Aya's hair to reveal near-black, red slashes across his forehead. The other priest who had helped to carry him in made the sign of the cross on his chest. The first priest began to wipe the blood from Aya's face and Ken looked back to the door.

"Where's Omi?" he demanded.

"Prophesizing," the priest answered quietly, his eyes holding a look of reverence. Youji and Ken both hurried out the door to the atrium, spotting a small gathering of priests near the main doors. They hurried down the aisle, pushing through the priests none to gently, and stopped in their tracks. Omi was tracing his finger along the wall, streaking blood on the white paint, and another priest stood near, copying down the letters as fast as Omi wrote them.

None of the priests were making a move to stop him, numbly watching in awe. Ken was angered. He pushed a priest aside, stepping forward purposefully and the priests around him grabbed his arms.

"Let go!" he yelled at them. "Why aren't you stopping him?!"

"Don't interfere!" they hissed at him. Youji grabbed the priests by the shoulders, jerking them back forcefully, nearly sending one to the floor. Freed, Ken stepped up behind Omi, who took no notice of him, continuing to scrape his bloodied finger along the wall.

"Omi," Ken said quietly, and Omi's finger stopped in mid-letter. The golden head turned and blank blue eyes looked at him. Panic seized Ken's heart for a moment. It wasn't Omi looking at him. There was no one home in those depths. No consciousness lived in those eyes as they looked at him, unblinking.

"Omi." Ken reached out his hand, blood soaking his bandaged wrist. Omi didn't seem to notice the hand thrust toward him, simply staring back at Ken's eyes. Then, with agonizing slowness, his hand moved away from the wall, and he turned to place that hand in Ken's. At the moment of contact, bright blood streaked down Ken's arm to drip to the floor.

Ken let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. The blood didn't bother him. There was no pain. Omi started to crumple, and Ken knelt down to catch him, gathering him up in his arms. He stood, turning to look back at the priests, who looked at him with utter amazement.

They're looking at me as if I were God himself, Ken thought. Even the look on Youji's face was one of awe. The priests began to mutter prayers and make the sign of the cross on their chests.

"Stop praying and help me!" Ken snapped, jolting them from their prayers. Father Yutaka came walking down the aisle as the priests stepped forward to help take the unconscious boy from Ken's arms. 

"We bear witness to the miracles of God," Father Yutaka said ominously. The scribing priest stepped over to him, handing him the papers he had been writing on, speaking in a hushed tone. The head priest read over the paper, then looked at Ken. 

"To you it is said, behold the face of your God, the beginning of comfort, whose eyes are the brightness of the heavens," he said with reverence, reading from it. The other priests began murmuring prayers again and Youji blinked from the Father to Ken, then to the letters on the wall.

-----------

Youji brushed his hair from his face, letting out a long exhale as he looked down at the unconscious Aya. Omi was lying on Ken's cot, and the brunette sat protectively next to him, trying to cajole that same young priest to look up the soccer game scores before they bled to death.

Three out of four, Youji thought, looking at the youngest Weiß member. And Christ had five categorized wounds, if he remembered correctly. He began to fear for the boy, the thought of either of the last two wounds appearing on his body.

He heard Father Yutaka and his priests muttering in deep conversation just outside the door. They realized it too; they had to have. So when the next wound appeared, what happened then? Youji was expecting something miraculous for the trouble it was causing.

The door opened, and the Father stepped in, looking directly at Youji. Seeing Aya was still unconscious, he motioned for Ken and Youji to come to him.

"We must speak," he said gravely. Giving their team members one last glance, the two stepped out after the Father.

--------------

"The boy, Omi." Father Yukata walked ahead of them into the atrium, hands clasped behind his back. "When is his birthdate?"

Ken and Youji gave each other questioning glances.

"It's...tomorrow," Youji answered quietly, and Ken wondered why Youji sounded so desolate.

"As I feared." Father Yutaka bowed his head, stopping before the altar. "We translated the rest of the words."

"What do they say?"

The Father turned to look at them solemnly. "Blasphemy."

Both Youji and Ken did a double take in disbelief.

"But, you started reading it," Ken said in denial. "It sounded good to me."

"The beginning sounds like the word of God," the Father agreed. "But it is farther down that we realized it was not the word of God at all."

"Then who's is it?"

The Father took a breath before he spoke. "It is written in the language of the angels. But it speaks of horror and despair, and only one angel would write such."

Ken and Youji looked at him questioningly, waiting for him to continue.

"The Dark One, the Fallen Angel, he preaches through the boy."

"No, wait." Ken shook his head, trying to absorb this. "That can't be true. There's a mistake."

"There is no mistake." Father Yutaka closed his eyes and bowed his head. "He is the unholy host."

"No." Ken shook his head. "No! That's not true!"

"Father," Youji said quietly. "Are you sure?"

"The day of his birth is right, and the Dark One has already displayed his power over the boy." The Father turned away from them, looking up at the statue of crucified Christ. "We aren't mistaken."

"So what does that mean? Will you be able to do something?" Youji stepped toward him.

"That is what I needed to talk to you about." The Father didn't look at them. "We cannot let him have the boy. It will mean Armageddon."

Youji and Ken nodded, though the priest couldn't see it.

"So, you'll help us protect him?"

"Yes." The Father gazed up at the Christ's face. "We must protect his eternal soul. I am asking for your understanding."

"Understanding?" Ken frowned. "What is there to understand? He's got a time limit, right? We've just got to hold out until then!"

"My son." Father Yutaka finally looked to him. "You must understand our position. We cannot take the risks. The price could be too high."

Ken was still trying to comprehend the mixed messages when Youji's hand landed on his shoulder.

"You wouldn't," he breathed.

"Please understand, my son. We cannot take the chance."

"No!" Youji used Ken's shoulder to push off of, running back for the side wing door. Realization finally smacked Ken upside the head and he stepped forward, grabbing the Father by the front of his robe.

"If they've so much as touched him..." Ken let his voice drip the promise of violence. "I'll kill you."

Looking at the priest's sullen expression in the face of the threat, Ken realized the priest was willing to pay that price. He shoved the priest to the floor, snarling.

"You aren't a man of God," he said slowly. Calmly. "A man of God shows mercy."

Father Yutaka watched Ken sprint for the door and lowered his head to the floor, begging in prayer for forgiveness.

-----------

Youji flung open the door and it slammed into a priest, sending him into the wall, kissing the back of the door. Youji stopped, holding the door open, keeping the priest trapped behind it. Aya stood on the far side of Ken's cot, holding Omi over his shoulder, katana in hand. Two more priests stood around the cot in attack stances, one holding an ornate dagger. The other priests in the room had retreated from the vicinity, watching from behind cabinets and other furniture.

Youji grinned. "You got excellent timing, Aya. You know that?"

The priest armed with the dagger tried to move toward them, and Aya turned, letting the pale light gleam over his blade. The priest stepped back, knowing his own blade was much smaller.

"He must be killed," the priest hissed. "For the sake of humanity!"

"Not while we're alive," Ken answered, stepping up beside Youji. The priest took a moment to weigh the odds, then leapt forward, dagger raised to strike. Youji's wire sang on its way through the air to snag the priest by his raised arm, jerking him down out of his leap and to the floor.

"Aya! Now!" Ken yelled, backing up to make room for the redhead. Aya dashed through the opening and Youji blocked the doorway, retracting his wire.

"You are forsaken," he said grimly, and slammed the door shut behind him.

-----------

Splashing through the shallow streams that used to be streets, Youji hurried to catch up to Aya and Ken.

"Where do we go?" he yelled through the steady hiss of rain striking the water as it swirled around their ankles. 

"We have no place to go but home!" 

"He'll be waiting for us there!" Ken protested, wiping rain from his eyes.

"We're much more vulnerable out here!" Aya squinted in the driving rain that pound against his face. Youji gave Ken a shove, moving him along.

"He's right! At least there we have a phone! Let's make Persia cater to us for once!"

-----------

Youji opened the front door just a crack, listening for sounds of movement. At the silence he reached his arm in, and flipped on the light, ready to jump back. The white light seemed entirely too bright, making him blink rapidly as his eyes adjusted.

Everything appeared to be in order. He pushed open the door, waiting for any sign of an attack. None came. Ken and Aya stepped into the doorway behind him, escaping the rain.

"We'd better clear the house." Youji watched the kitchen and the hallway intensely. Aya nodded, and without a word, placed Omi into Ken's arms. Ken readjusted his hold before he could accidentally drop the unexpected burden, giving Aya a questioning look.

Aya lifted his katana and looked away, indicating that was the only answer he was going to give. He stepped toward the kitchen with Youji at his back, leaving Ken to watch from the open doorway.

Clearing the kitchen, Aya and Youji moved on down the hallway, clearing rooms. Ken waited tensely, readjusting Omi again.

"Geez, Omi, when did you actually start gaining weight?" he muttered to the unconscious boy in joke as he shifted the boy's weight in his arms. "...and are you growing breasts?!"

-----------

Youji and Aya returned to announce the house clear after having searched every room, closet, bathroom, drawer, cabinet, and under every bed.

"Where do you think they all went?" Ken asked, finally freeing his arms by letting Omi down onto his own bed.

"I think your soccer shirts fumigated them." Youji made as if to pinch his nose closed, pointing at a pile of laundry in the corner of Ken's room.

"Ha, ha," Ken muttered dourly. "Don't you have a call to make?"

"Che! Youji has to do everything," the blonde sighed, stepping back out toward the living room for the phone.

"Change into dry clothes." Aya looked to Ken. "If Omi wakes, have him change too. Be ready to evacuate at a moment's notice."

"Where are you going?" Ken demanded.

"To follow my own advice."

Aya stepped over to the door, and paused. "You almost forgot your bugnucks. I tucked them in Omi's outfit."

Ken watched Aya leave his room, looked down at Omi, and unbuttoned the outer jacket, finding his heavy gloves in Omi's chest area.

"Hmm," Ken grinned, glad to have them back. "You had me worried there for a moment, Omittchi."

Omi didn't answer, and Ken put the gloves back down next to him. "If you wake up, keep your eyes to yourself," he warned, and pulled dry clothes from the closet.

--------------

Youji sat on the couch, having changed to dry clothes. More specifically, his assassin outfit. With a grimace, he had realized it too closely resembled a priest's outfit. He'd have to see about a change of wardrobe.

He flipped the channels, searching for the soccer scores Ken had been close to selling his own body for.

His feet were still bleeding, but nothing like they had at first. Omi had awoken, and Ken had taken him to change, refusing to let the boy out of sight for an instant.

Youji had heard Aya and Ken arguing in hushed tones in the hallway before Omi broke them up with a few gentle words. The unholy host? Omi? Gentle, always smiling, incredibly smart Omi? Well, sure, he killed people with darts and arrows, but Youji himself had done worse. It still seemed impossible.

Feeling his fingers itch for a cigarette, he lit one, lolling his head back on the couch as nicotine returned to his bloodstream. Let Omi scream at him for smoking in the house. What was he supposed to do? Go outside and ask the devil if he had a light?


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6.
    
    28 February, 1998
    
    5:30 PM

Crayola blue splashes lit up the dark walls of the alleyway. Figures dressed in lumpy raincoats muttered to each other as they shook their heads. Beyond them, a rolling cot was raised to its upright position, shaking its burden, hidden by a crimson-stained sheet. 

"Youji-kun!"

Aya paused to hear Omi's gentle scolding tone as the boy walked ahead of him. Ken had handed over guardian duties to the redhead, then gone off to rewrap his wrists. Aya's head wounds were seeping blood again, and Omi had insisted they be wrapped. Aya had also finally gotten him to change back into his regular clothes and out of the priest's outfit.

Youji looked back boredly over the back of the couch, cigarette in hand. "Omi-kun!" he mimicked in response.

Omi put his fists on his hips and stomped forward toward the couch.

"Nuh-uh." Youji lifted his free hand in the international sign for 'stop'. "Even you aren't stopping me this time, Omittchi. Ne, you don't want me to go outside."

Omi frowned at him, still holding his scolding posture. Youji stood up, and came around the couch to face him. Looking down at the boy, he put his hands on his own hips.

"I'm gonna smoke, and I'm gonna smoke the whole pack after this one."

As if to prove his statement, he stood up straight and took a long drag.

"I'm going to be smoking when the devil shows his ugly face, and I'm going to be smoking when it's over," he 'hmphed', blowing out smoke. "I dare you to stop me."

Aya let out his breath in an exasperated sigh and walked over toward the kitchen, pausing to see Youji's bible still on the table. His hand reached out slowly toward it, as if afraid he would be burned.

"Really?" Omi arched an eyebrow, assuming the look of a skeptic, stepping forward nearly chest to chest with the man. 

"What are you gonna do, squirt?" Youji asked in challenge, and sucked on the cigarette to show his lack of concern.

Having known Youji long enough, Omi knew where to reach into Youji's outer coat. He found the inner pocket, seizing and withdrawing the pack of cigarettes before Youji knew how to react to the grab.

"Hey!" Youji grabbed for the pack, but Omi was already running through Ken's door, holding the cigarettes aloft.

"Come back here with those!" Youji took after him in a huff, making Aya pause before his fingers touched the book on the table. Glad no one had seen his actions, he crossed his arms and turned away from the book on the table. He listened to Ken's cry of surprise, Omi's squeal of triumph, the sound of the toilet flushing, and Youji shrieking in denial.

He almost smiled to hear everyone sounding almost normal again. For how much longer?

Aya glanced at his watch. How much longer do we have? If we keep Omi safe until the devil's time is up, then it's all over

He blinked to feel something roll down between his eyes and wiped at it to find blood on his fingers.

And what is this about? He rubbed his fingers together, smearing the blood across them. What good does this do? All we do is bleed. It doesn't feel like God at all

He closed his eyes, again seeing that plaster face looking up at the light. Please. Please, if you're listening to me at all, help us

It was the closest to a prayer that had even crossed his mind since the bombing that took his parents. He turned to hear Youji stepping back into the living room, muttering and clutching the lit cigarette.

"He flushed them!" Youji groaned. "The whole pack!"

"Good." Aya looked at him indifferently. Green eyes icing over, Youji stepped forward and grabbed Aya by the front of his shirt.

"Aya, if I can't smoke, I'm going to go crazy," he said through clenched teeth. "This is my outlet, Aya. Ken has his soccer, Omi has his computer, and you..."

Youji stared at empty, icy, lavender eyes, then let go of his teammate with a sigh.

"And you, you just don't feel anything." He turned away, trying to draw out the last of his cigarette. "You just don't give a damn, do you, Aya?"

~ What a miracle is life

the fields are high

and the fruit is ripe ~

Aya blinked at Youji's back, then looked around, trying to figure out where the echoing singing was coming from. 

~ So hold out your hands, yeah

hold out your hands ~

Youji was still looking away from him, waiting for a response, while Aya's eyes darted around, head turning, seeking the singer.

~ You're the same as me

you breathe the air I breathe ~ 

Aya grabbed Youji's shoulder, whirling him around, trying to catch the man's lips moving. Youji simply stared back at him in shock.

~ And we don't understand, yeah

we don't understand ~

"Do you hear that?" Aya demanded, looking up and around. Youji's eyes followed, body going tense.

"Hear what?" he breathed quietly.

~ If you don't ask questions

then you won't know why ~ 

"That!" Aya hissed, voice dropping into a whisper, following Youji's whisper.

"I didn't hear anything."

"You can't hear the singing?"

Youji blinked at him, stepping back. "You're hearing singing?"

~ So say a prayer for the dying

while there's still time ~

Aya's eyes widened, and he pushed past Youji, running for Ken's room. He burst in to see Ken and Omi look up from Ken's radio clock. Aya stepped forward, ignoring their surprised looks and grabbed the radio from Ken's hand.

"And so Osaka walked away with this one," the voice on the radio announced.

"That's really got to be a blow to the hometeam," answered another voice on the radio.

"Blow is right." Ken sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "How could they lose?"

Omi stared at Aya, who was blinking at the radio. "We were just listening to the soccer scores, Aya-kun."

Aya looked to him finally, and slowly handed the radio back over to Ken.

"Is something wrong, Aya-kun?" Omi asked worriedly. Aya swallowed and looked away from the concerned stares.

"Aya-kun is hearing voices," Youji said from the doorway, trying to smoke the very filter of the cigarette. Aya glared at him, and Youji shrugged off the look.

"What do they say?"

Aya didn't look back, shaking his head. "I must have just heard the radio."

"Ahh, but there's no singing on the radio right now, Aya-kun." Youji winked at Omi.

"They were singing?"

Aya closed his eyes, the hair on the back of his neck prickling. He entertained the thought of sitting on Youji's chest while throttling him.

"It must have been nothing." Aya unclenched his fists and walked to the door, stopping to look at Youji, who stepped aside to let him pass. Youji gave him a look that said 'what?' and Aya shook his head, stepping past him.

"Youji-kun, when did Manx say she was coming?" Omi asked as Ken glared at his soccer cleats.

"She said the streets are flooded, so it might take about half an hour." Youji hissed as the filter burned his fingers and he dropped it on the floor, stomping on it.

"Good, I better go bandage up Aya-kun's head like I planned to." Omi flushed in embarrassment at having forgotten.

"You do that, and pull the bandages tight." Youji nodded.

"Youji-kun, you really need to start thinking of his feelings too," Omi scolded gently.

"I would, if he had any," Youji snorted. Omi frowned at him, and hurried past, after Aya. Youji looked back at Ken, who looked very downtrodden.

"You look like someone ran over your cat, Ken."

"More like my soccer ball." Ken sighed and fell backwards onto his bed. "If I'd been there, I'm sure they would have won."

"No modesty here." Youji grinned and ducked the pillow Ken threw at him.

-----------

Omi bandaged Aya's head as the redhead sat quietly, waiting patiently.

He's really taking this hard Omi thought as he tucked the bandage into itself. But then again, he spends more time in thought than all of us.

"Done." He grinned and stepped back from the redhead, who merely nodded in assent. He watched Aya's eyes fall on the bible on the table, and looked at it himself for a moment.

I'm sorry if I'm the cause of all this, Omi thought as he watched Aya's face, expressionless in thought. I'd stop it if I knew how.

"Aya-kun." He sat down in the chair across from the redhead. "In about six hours, it will be technically my birthday. So when tomorrow is over, then his time should be over, right? Just thirty more hours?"

Aya's eyes lifted to look at him. Omi tried to smile at him to lift his spirits.

"We can hope."

"Ne, the priest said he had a time limit, and if he's killing the leap year babies, then the right time has to revolve around the leap year day, right?"

Aya watched him, waiting for him to go on.

"And if he killed three today, then he's getting more desperate to find the right one in time," Omi tried to explain. "I mean, there can't be that many people born on February twenty-ninth."

Aya just looked at him with deep lilac eyes.

"Ne, Aya-kun, you can speak your thoughts aloud."

"It's nothing." Aya looked away to the window.

Omi frowned at the side of Aya's face as the other intently watched the rain-soaked window.

He just refuses to open up Omi thought sadly. He has to do it on his own

"Ne." Omi stood up, stretching. "I'm going to check to see if water is flooding the flower shop."

Aya didn't turn away from the window.

"Okay," Omi sighed. "That's where I'll be."

-----------

Youji frowned at Ken's confession as the brunette picked at the bandages on his wrists.

"Why would Aya insist you not tell him?"

Ken turned to look at him, lifting his hand to his forehead, scratching. "He said Omi has enough to worry about. But Omi needs to know that he's the one in danger here. Or he'd do a fool thing like step forward to protect us. You know he would."

"Oh God," Youji sighed, rubbing his lower lip with the side of a finger. "Aya got his logic out of a crackerjack box."

"So we tell him?" Ken asked hopefully, leaning forward with his hands on the bed to look at Youji's face.

"We need to." Youji stood up and Ken followed, glad to finally get the secret out. 

-----------

Stepping into the living room, they saw Aya at the table, looking intently through the pages of the bible.

"Aya?" Ken asked, and Aya slammed the book shut, looking quickly over his shoulder.

Hmmm, Youji thought in amusement.

"Where's Omi?" Ken ignored the book, looking around.

"He went to check if the flower shop flooded."

"You let him go alone?!" Ken demanded, and ran for the door to the flower shop downstairs, slamming it open, calling Omi's name.

"You're brilliant, you know," Youji said quietly. "Omi's the one in danger, so let's hide that fact from him, so he doesn't know that being foolhardy could cost us all."

"Don't patronize me, Youji." Aya's voice dripped ice. "All we have to do is keep him safe. He doesn't have to know."

"Safe, yes," Youji continued. "So let's send him down into a flower shop that faces the street alone."

Aya was up out of the chair faster than Youji could comprehend, and he lost the ability to breathe as all the air was forced out of his lungs from the fist to his stomach. He clutched at his stomach, gasping and backing away from the deadly stare on Aya's face.

"You are not my conscience." Each word was so cold it seemed to crackle like ice. Youji dropped to his knees, trying to regain his breath as Aya stepped toward the door to the flower shop. 

-----------

"Omi?" Ken looked around the dim flower shop. Only the fluorescent lights in the refrigerated units keeping flowers fresh cast a small glow. Water splashed around his feet as he walked further into the shop. He heard a small whimpering noise and water sloshed as he turned for the source. A thin layer of water coated the floor, having seeped in under the outer door on the front of the shop. 

"Omi?" Ken fumbled for the light switch. He heard footsteps on the stairs and turned to see Aya coming slowly down the stairs, looking around. 

"Where is he?" Aya asked quietly. Ken's fingers found the light switch, bathing the shop in light. Ken waited for his eyes to readjust.

"Omi?" he glanced around, not seeing the boy anywhere.

"Omi." Aya's feet splashed across the floor as he joined the search. They heard the small whimper again and looked toward the back of the shop, near the utilities closet. 

"Omi, is that you?" Ken asked in concern as he stepped over. 

"Ken." Aya grabbed his arm, looking down, and Ken followed his gaze, one foot still lifted, to see the red stains in the water creeping toward them.

Ken jerked out of Aya's hold, hurrying toward the back of the shop, splashing reddish water on the bottoms of his jeans. Near a rack of young plants lay a small body in a black jacket with red sneakers, curled up on its side in a ball. Red colored the water around the body like a leaking aura. Ken dropped to one knee in the water, reaching out toward a shuddering shoulder. The body flinched under the touch.

"Omi, it's just me," he said gently. A golden head appeared from its tucked state and tear-filled blue eyes lifted to look at him, pink-stained water dripping from the side of his head that had rested in the water.

"What happened?" Aya knelt down next to Ken, hand coming to rest on Omi's ribs.

"It was my turn," Omi whispered.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7.
    
    28 February, 1998
    
    6:00 PM

Youji got to his feet painfully, glaring at the flower shop door. "Aya, you must die."

He lurched over to the door with every intention of beating Aya to a pulp, to see Ken coming back up the stairs, looking carefully back at Omi, who followed. Aya followed behind them, eyes glued to Omi's back.

Omi dripped water and Ken's shoes squelched as he stepped up the stairs.

"It flooded, didn't it?" Youji asked with his teeth still clenched. Ken didn't answer, merely stepping past him into the house.

"Okay, Aya, round two," Youji snapped as Omi passed him, and he kicked Aya full in the jaw, sending him flying back down the stairs to strike the bottom with a loud smack against the water, underscored by a hollow thud.

"Youji-kun!" Omi shrieked.

"What the hell!" Ken leapt forward and grabbed Youji, slamming him into the wall. Youji coughed as his breath was nearly stolen for the second time that day.

"Bastard deserved it!" he snarled and Ken slapped him. 

"What's gotten into you?!" Ken shook him, and shoved him to the side, hurrying back down the stairs after the redhead.

Omi stared at Youji with disbelieving eyes and Youji glared defiantly back, feeling his cheek sting. 

"Asshole." He grit his teeth, looking back at the door.

"Aya-kun?" Omi ran to the door, looking down the stairs, and Youji stared. Omi's jacket had been torn and slashed across the back, revealing the white lining. The sagging material had been stained with red, revealing the boy's skin beneath marked with blood. 

Youji's throat constricted as his mind registered what he was seeing. His vision seemed to telescope in to see the dark wound which had opened in a line across the boy's skin between the folds of ragged cloth. 

-----------

Aya slowly sat up, holding the back of his head.

"You okay?" Ken asked, hovering over him. Aya nodded calmly, blinking against the numbing sting on the back of his head.

"Damn that Youji," Ken cursed. "What's he thinking?"

He held out his hand to help Aya to his feet. Aya took it, getting to his feet shakily. Then his muscles stopped spasming from the shock, and he regained his balance.

-----------

Up at the top of the stairs, Youji had pulled off Omi's shirt, examining his back.

"Youji," Ken growled as he emerged through the door.

"Enough." Aya held out his hand to stop the angry brunette. "I deserved that."

Ken blinked at him in surprise, not sure how to respond. To Youji, it was already forgotten. Omi stood patiently, biting his lip in fear of how bad it really looked.

"And so it's gotten all of us now," Youji said quietly. "I'm going to get the first aid kit."

"Are you okay, Aya-kun?" Omi asked worriedly.

Aya nodded and motioned for the boy to turn around. Omi did so, revealing the bleeding lines crisscrossing his back from his shoulders to the top of his pants.

"That's a stigmata?!" Ken gasped in horror.

"Jesus was whipped before he was nailed to the cross." Youji stepped back with the first aid kit. "There's only one stigmata left."

"You're saying one of us is gonna get another one?" Omi asked fearfully. Youji sat down at the table, motioning him over. He pulled the rubbing alcohol from the kit as Omi obliged.

"I'm not an expert on this," he said quietly as Omi hissed over the gentle dabs at his back. "I just know there were five."

"Where's Manx at?" Ken scratched his head. "She should have been here by now."

Aya walked over to the window, looking out at the dark, flooded streets.

"Ken's right," he said quietly. "She should have been here by now."

"You don't think...anything happened...do y-ow!" Omi jerked away from the bloodied cotton.

"I'm almost done." Youji waved him back. Aya clenched and unclenched his fists as he watched the rain.

"Call her again." He looked to Ken, who obediently went for the phone. Youji wrapped gauze around Omi's torso.

"You'll look like a mummy." He grinned as Omi turned helpfully to wind the gauze. 

"I do not," Omi protested, arms up in the air.

Ken put his hand over the mouthpiece of the phone. "I'm not getting an answer."

Aya turned to look at him, walking over and taking the phone from Ken's hands, listening to the continuous ringing. He hung up the phone, staring at it.

"What do you think happened?" Ken asked quietly. "She should have been here..."

Aya stepped away to the closet, pulling out his jacket.

"Aya-kun!" Omi started toward him, but was stopped by the gauze Youji was still trying to tie off.

"Where do you think you're going?" Ken slapped his hand against the wall next to the closet.

"I'm going to find Manx." Aya buckled his jacket closed.

"But you can't go out there alone!" Omi protested, impatiently waiting for Youji to finish.

"Don't be stupid, Aya." Youji rolled his eyes, lifting his hands away from the finished knot.

Aya narrowed his eyes at them. "She came for us. We need to find her for our sakes as well as hers. He's not after me. Stay."

He grabbed up his katana and turned to see Ken holding the car keys out. Aya grabbed for them, and Ken closed them in his fist.

"Didn't you learn when you joined us that you can't do everything alone?" he demanded. "It's like you're suicidal, Aya! It's driving me crazy!"

Aya remained calm. "Give me the keys, Ken. She's out there. When I find her, I won't be alone."

Omi shook his head, fingering his earring in agitation.

"Damn, stubborn, piece of..." Youji muttered, trailing off, closing the first aid kit.

"I'm not abandoning any of you." Aya looked to the others. "And I'm not going to abandon Manx either. But we can't all go out there. Too vulnerable. And one of you can't take him on. So I have to go. Alone."

"You're forgetting me, Aya-kun." Omi pointed his finger accusingly. "I can fight too. I don't need to be protected like a child."

Ken and Youji looked at Aya with I-told-you-so looks.

"Indeed, the three of you." Aya nodded slowly. "But he has you targeted. Remember?"

Omi sucked in his lower lip, lowering his gaze to the floor.

"The keys."

Ken laid the keys in Aya's hand, and Aya nodded at him. "I'll be back."

"Yeah, him and the Terminator," Youji said dryly.

-----------

Aya drove carefully through the water-filled streets, keeping an alert eye for any sign of the redheaded secretary. The streets were silent. The city looked like a washed out ghost town.

"No sane man would be out there. Only Aya."

Aya grit his teeth. Sometimes Youji was so correct it made his teeth hurt. Not that he'd ever admit it. At least not to the lanky blonde's face.

He rounded another corner and slammed on the brakes as a light flashed across his eyes. The tires slid him forward a small distance before stopping. Aya cursed, blinking as the light moved, revealing itself to be a flashlight. More flashlights and swirling blue lights on cars were in the street before him. In the center of the hubbub was an overturned van.

Aya blinked at the black van, thinking of how close he himself could be to the same situation. It had been smashed so badly, the police had it up on jacks to get into it.

"Sir." The police officer with the flashlight tapped on his window. Aya rolled it down, blinking as the rain sprinkled into his eyes.

"Sir, I'm going to have to have you go around," the police officer explained, pointing back toward the street Aya had come from. "You shouldn't even be out here in this rain, it's dangerous."

"I see," Aya agreed quietly, putting the car into reverse. The police officer waved after him in the dark as Aya pulled back onto the street and drove past. He parked the car a block away. He silently cursed the water that lapped around his boots about calf level as he stepped out. At least the boots were waterproof.

He slipped back up to the scene, sticking to the shadows between the buildings. He got in place in time to watch two medics climb out of the back of the van, carrying a woman between them. Blood coated her face, but the face was unmistakable.

"Birman." Aya clenched the hilt of his katana. They'd crashed. Impossible. He felt as if cold water had filled his stomach as Birman was laid out on a cot with a black bag on it. He swallowed hard as they closed the black bag around her body and zipped it closed.

As that cot was wheeled through the water to the first ambulance, another cot with a black bag was wheeled forward. Aya gripped the edge of the wall as the medics stepped back into the back of the van. He bit his lip hard enough to taste blood to see the next body come out. All he needed to see were the red curls.

He turned away from the scene. Impossible. Manx and Birman both. A little water couldn't have defeated them. Impossible. Unless...

He swallowed the taste of copper in his mouth as he walked back to the car.

It's all on us now. He did it. He stopped them from helping us. It's the only explanation.

-----------

7:30 the car clock read. Four and a half more hours till Omi's birthday. Normally, Aya would have been thinking of what kind of cake to get the boy. Instead, he was thinking of how to keep the boy alive.

He drove home solemnly, carefully. Making sure he got home alive. When he approached the door, he was startled to hear singing. He opened the door cautiously.

Ken had a paper birthday hat on, askew. Youji wore two on his head, next to each other like horns. Omi wore his on the front of his head, giving him a single horn. The cupcakes Ken had bought two days ago had candles in them. At hearing the door open, everyone looked to him.

"What's this?" Aya asked quietly.

"Welcome back!" Omi said in relief. "Did you find her?"

Youji gnawed desperately on a plastic straw, looking at him as well.

"There was an accident," Aya said quietly, and watched three faces pale.

"Is Manx okay?" Ken demanded.

"Manx and Birman were together." Aya leaned his katana against the wall, unbuckling his jacket. "I don't know how, but the van flipped."

"Dammit, Aya!" Youji snapped. "ARE THEY OKAY?!"

Aya looked back at him coldly. "They're dead. We're on our own."

The room was silent, till it was broken by the sound of Omi sniffling. Youji pulling him into his arms, stroking his hair as the boy cried. He couldn't even glare at Aya, looking down at the floor past the boy's back. Ken just stared at Aya in shock. He started to stutter wordlessly.

"M-maybe you...just saw two people th-that looked like them..."

Aya shook his head, closing his eyes. Ken bit his lip as his eyes became glassy.

"What...what do we do now?" he asked meekly. Aya shook his head again.

"All I know is that we should contact Persia. He...he needs to know about this."

Ken slowly nodded, looking away from him, walking to grip the back of the couch and ducking his head.

"He...needs to...know," Omi agreed with hiccupping breaths as he wiped his eyes on his sleeve. "I'll...I'll go do it."

Aya nodded at the boy as he ran for his room, still wiping at his face. Youji sighed and slowly looked at the redhead. "You sure know how to ruin a party, don't you?"

"You asked." Aya looked at the cupcakes, counting the candles. Eighteen. Omi was finally turning eighteen. He couldn't really be considered a child any longer.

"Early party," he said softly.

"We're going to have the real one tomorrow." Youji clasped his hands between his thighs. "But we thought we'd have a rehearsal." 

"A rehearsal." Aya picked up a cupcake, looking at the blown out candles in it.

"Ken might have forgotten the words to the song."

"Did not," Ken protested quietly. "That's one song you don't forget."

-----------

Omi's breath still jerked in his chest as he waited for a response from the mysterious man known as Persia. It was too much. The storm, the monsters, the bleeding, and now this...

Manx had been around as far back as Omi could remember. Like an older sister of sorts. And now she was gone. Gone, like that. What had she done to deserve it? She didn't kill. She only delivered the missions. The messenger didn't deserve to be shot.

Omi folded his arms on the desk and rested his head on them. Times like this made him want to just give up. To just hand himself over to be killed if it would stop all of this. He was tired. It would be so much easier.

-----------

He opened his eyes with a jerk to hear the computer tone and blinked his eyes at it. He glanced at his watch. Half an hour had passed.

Half an hour?! Omi hopped out of the chair, running back for the main room. Aya sat at the table with a cup of coffee, Ken was eating one of the cupcakes, and Youji was...smoking...

"Oh, Omi," Ken muffled around the cupcake, seeing him step out.

"Why didn't you wake me?" Omi demanded.

"You were tired." Aya pressed the warm coffee cup to his cheek, holding it with both hands. Omi frowned.

"You needed it, Omi," Youji called from the couch, watching a game show with a lit cigarette between his fingers. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

"Where did you get that?" Omi pointed accusingly.

"I found a spare pack." Youji stuck his tongue out. "So your life is spared for now."

"Oi, hmph a crupcuk." Ken handed him a cupcake, mumbling around a mouthful. Omi took the cupcake, looking at the small holes in the frosting where the candles had sat. His wish hadn't come true. It had been so simple too. Let Aya and Manx make it back safely. And they'd lost Birman in the deal too.

"Here." Ken handed him a cup of tea, wiping crumbs from his own lips. Omi took the tea gratefully.

- This is my body -

Omi blinked at Ken, curious at the words. "What?"

"Hmm?" Ken asked, looking back to him in surprise.

"What do you mean?" Omi asked. 

"Did I say something?" Ken blinked. "It's tea."

"No, about your body."

Ken flushed and jabbed a finger at him. "Don't be thinking about my body at a time like this!"

Omi flushed, backing up. "That wasn't what I meant!"

- This is my blood - 

Omi blinked again. Ken's lips hadn't moved. Warm liquid dripped onto his hand and Omi looked down at the slightly spilled tea. Deep red.

"Ne, Omi-kun, thinking about Ken here?" Youji folded his arms over the back of the couch.

"No!" Omi protested. "I heard a voice."

Aya put his coffee cup down. "And what did it say?"

"This is my body. This is my blood."

Ken and Aya blinked, looking at him, then to each other.

"Communion," Youji said quietly. "So he CAN hear me."

With that, Youji turned back to the TV.

------------------

Omi opened the mail from Persia that expressed sorrow over the loss of Birman and Manx and gave them directions to a safehouse across town. They quickly packed up some clothes, food, and weapons for their stay. Omi hugged his laptop inside his jacket as they hurried for the car in the rain.

He looked back at the building that had been their haven and safety for so long, till Aya turned a corner and it was out of his vision.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8.
    
    28 February 1998
    
    10:00 PM

The safehouse looked like an abandoned parking garage from the outside. Their car safely parked inside and out of sight, they had slipped through the hidden door Persia had indicated in the rear. It led them down.

"This ain't so bad." Youji stretched out on the couch in the main room they found. It was obviously only meant to house people temporarily. It was one large room with two bathrooms on the sides. Couches sat around a TV, a computer, and cots sat against the wall. A small phone hung on the wall, completing the needs for communication.

Ken pulled open a cot and crashed out on it, stretching and sighing. "So we'll be safe here, ne?"

"We should be," Omi agreed, hooking his laptop up by the other computer. Aya poked around till he was satisfied with the place, then pulled out a cot for himself.

"Let's all get some sleep," he suggested.

"Hai, hai," Youji sighed from the couch. "I can't meet the devil without my beauty rest."

"Set your watch for 10 years," Ken snickered from his cot.

"Yare, yare." Youji waved a hand at him. "Even 10 years won't help you."

-----------

Aya helped to set up the other cots and fetched the pillows and blankets from the closet as Omi contacted Persia to let him know they had arrived safely.

"How are the feet looking, Youji-kun?" Omi asked as Youji kicked off his shoes. Youji blinked down at his feet.

"Fine, they haven't bled much," he assured the boy. Omi checked on Ken's wrists and Aya's head before he settled down on his own cot. He curled up under the blanket, hugging the pillow to his head and closed his eyes.

------------------

Youji sat up, eyes wide open and alert, scanning the room. He heard Ken's gentle snores, spotting the soccer player to his right, and the other two quietly sleeping to his left. No one else stirred. He wasn't quite sure what had woken him, and finally decided it was nerves.

A check of the time indicated just over an hour and a half had passed. He lay back down, pulling the covers back up only to sit up again at a gentle scraping sound from above. He eyes shot upward, scanning the ceiling for more noise.

Maybe just something moving in the wind, he tried to reason the sound. The sound came again, and Youji slowly slipped out of his cot.

"Aya," he whispered, shaking the redhead. Aya grabbed his wrist violently, eyes jerking open and finally recognizing him.

"What?" he whispered, blinking. The scraping sound came again and both heads looked up.

"Do you think..." Youji asked quietly. Aya thought for one second and slipped out of his cot, running for his katana.

"Wake them," he said quietly, watching the door. Youji quickly shook Omi awake, clapping a hand over his mouth as Omi began to ask sleepy questions.

"Shhhh," Youji whispered to him, finger to his lips. "Put on your shoes."

Omi nodded, eyes wide, and Youji went to wake Ken. Ken floundered with him at being woken, trying to struggle with him, and nearly bit Youji when the blonde's hand covered his mouth to cover his cry of surprise. When he finally became coherent, Youji gave him the same instructions.

"Maybe it's just rats," Ken whispered.

"Maybe not," Aya whispered back. The other assassins grabbed their weapons as Aya slowly walked up the stairs.

Aya grabbed the door handle, glancing back to make sure the others were ready, and slowly turned it. The garage above was quiet. Aya slowly stepped out into the garage, eyes scanning and ears carefully listening for movement. Nothing but the pattering of rain on the roof and walls.

"False alarm?" Ken whispered.

"Let's just make sure." Aya slowly stepped to the wall, looking all around him as the others stringed out behind him. After a few steps, Aya paused to hear Youji humming the Pink Panther theme. He turned to glare at the blonde, who only grinned. They conducted a sweep of the garage, checking every nook and cranny.

"I guess it's clear." Aya lowered his katana, looking to the others.

"Sorry, just jumpy," Youji apologized.

"But what was scraping?" Aya looked upward at the ceiling for anything loose and dangling.

"Maybe there's a weathervane on the roof?" Ken suggested.

"But it would be scraping still," Omi protested, stepping toward the window to look at the blowing rain outside. Lightning flashed and Omi screamed, drawing everyone's attention to the dark shape outside the window.

"Shit!" Youji yelled, dashing forward. His curse was drowned out by the following thunder and the exploding window. The cloaked man had punched the window out, grabbing Omi by the front of his shirt, who had frozen in place in startlement as glass pelted his face.

"No!" Aya ran for the boy as he was jerked through the broken window.

"AYA!!" Omi shrieked as he disappeared into the rain outside. Youji reached the window first, curling his arms around his face as he crashed through what remained of the glass and struck the water-covered road outside.

"OMI!" Ken screamed into the rain as he followed Aya through the window.

"HEEEERE!!" came the cry through the crashing rain and the Weiß members were in hot pursuit.

Omi kept obligingly yelling, leading the others on a zigzagging pursuit.

"He's trying to lose us!" Ken yelled, having to lift his feet high to get through the water. Aya said nothing, just remembering the race with Omi in the church. He had to beat the figure in black. He had to get there first. He had done it before. And he meant to do it again.

Youji stumbled, and fell hard in the water, causing Ken to stop and run back to him. Aya slid to a stop, glancing back at them in disapproval.

"We have to think!" Youji yelled as Ken tugged him back to his feet. "Where would you go if you were the devil?!"

"Hell?" Ken asked, looking to Aya.

"No! Somewhere in Tokyo!"

"THINK!!" Youji smacked his head repeatedly with the palm of his head as he ran.

~ We all see the same sun ~

Youji blinked in the rain, wondering where the perfectly clear voice was coming from.

~ Each day the golden praise is sung ~

Youji's eyes widened. "Praise is sung..."

~ To the wonder of man ~

"The Church!" Youji yelled. "Go to the church!"

~ Yeah, the wonder of man ~

Ken changed direction, followed by Aya, and they trudged through the flooded streets.

~ And when we look why we can't see ~

"Who are you?!" Youji yelled at the voice.

~ All riches that are free ~

"What?!" Ken yelled back.

~ Oh, we don't understand ~

"I don't understand!" Youji yelled in response. "Who are you?!"

~ Yeah, we don't understand ~

"Who are you talking to?!" Ken looked back at him.

"I don't know!!" Youji blinked when the voice didn't continue. "Hurry!"

-----------

"Put me down!!" Omi flailed at the man in the cloak, determined not to die without a fight. "Why are you doing this?!"

The man wasn't running, the ride was too smooth. He was floating. Floating to where ever it was he was going. Omi struggled against the arm around his waist, but the grip was like iron, unyielding and firm. His stomach rose to his throat as he suddenly felt the man jump. Omi gulped air, squinting in the rain as the man suddenly stopped all motion.

This is it, Omi thought and stared in surprise at a thin iron cross that stood up out of the ground beneath his feet. Another look told him it wasn't the ground. The street was far below.

A church. The thought ran through Omi's mind as he realized the man still hadn't moved. Tensing his muscles to run, he viciously swung his elbow into where he thought the man's face was. His elbow sank into something spongy and slimy that gave under the assault.

Ewwwwww! Omi tried to squirm loose, hoping it distracted the man enough to loosen his hold. Nothing changed.

All hope of escaping began to die then, and his mind immediately switched to planning how he was going to face his death.

"All right, kill me then," he said quietly. He no longer felt fear, his mind having accepted he was going to die, and he felt startlingly calm. The man said nothing and still didn't move.

"Are you going to hold me here all night or get on with it?"

"It is time."

Omi felt himself being released and hope flared to life. He leapt forward out of the man's arms, grabbing for the iron cross in front of him. He felt his hands close on it and looked back at the shrouded darkness behind him.

Glowing red eyes stared back at him from within that darkness. "Madriiax ds praf Lit, chis micaolz saanir caosogo..."

-----------

Aya raced after the others, seeing the church ahead and gaining a new burst of speed. Don't let us be too late!

A bright burst of light shot up into the sky from the top of the church, stopping them in their tracks. A scream tore through the rain and darkness. Somewhere, a clock began to strike twelve.

-----------

30 December 1998

We've been tracking Omi's movement though the world. Horrible disasters seem to follow him where he goes.

I still can't believe we failed. And because we failed, the world is doomed. I know it sounds hard to believe. I'm not sure what he's waiting for. But he keeps moving. And we still have a job to do. It's so hard to just stay here and feel so helpless.

So that's what El Niño means. The boy child. It all makes sense to me now. He IS El Niño. I think he stirs every so often, looking for his host. And found him this time. They say this year was one of the two worst El Niño's of this thousand years. Then it was followed by La Niña. I don't quite know who La Niña is supposed to be. The girl child. I wonder who that is...

He's on a killing spree.

Flooding, drought, wildfires, tornados, tropical storms... He's killed over 18,000 people this year. What was it Youji said about storms, and floods, and horrible disasters signaling the end of the world?

1 March 1999

Happy Birthday, Omi. Or the closest date to it. You're 19 now, aren't you? I want nothing more than to just celebrate it with you. Youji, Aya, they both miss you. Aya, he's so cold. Far more than ever, and I realize it was you that kept him from being as bad as he is now. And Youji, he's sending himself to an early grave. He drinks himself into a stupor when he can. Sometimes when I fetch him, he calls for you, so drunk he's forgotten. Me, I've gotten better on the computer. I had to. I'm sure you would be proud of me. Don't give up hope, Omi. I know we will be able to stop this. Somehow. I don't know why I'm writing this like you're going to receive it. Maybe...it's just...hope.

31 December 1999

Another year has passed, and He's still out there. He's gotten worse. Now that it's December, He's gotten even crazier, and everyone is chanting that the end of the world is coming. It might be. The turn of the century. Is that what He was waiting for? That all this death and tragedy was just Him wasting time? I refuse to believe it.

This year there were more floods, cyclones, avalanches, hurricanes, and tornados. He's killed about 40,000 people this year. It's gotten even more intense during these last couple months.

Omi, don't let him do this. There's hardly any time le...

"Ken."

Ken turned from the computer, looking to Aya.

"Omi has been spotted."

"Where?!"

He's back in Tokyo. It's time for our rematch."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9.
    
    31 December 1999
    
    11:00 PM

Ken blinked at the church.

"Back to the place it started," Aya said firmly.

"It's funny to think he wants to destroy the world from here in Tokyo. I'm sure there are better places to do it from," Ken mused. "Like Israel, the holy land."

"But you notice he concentrated most of his storms and disasters in this area. Eastern Europe and Asia," Youji added. "It doesn't surprise me at all. Maybe it's Omi, but I think he feels a tie to this place. And he knows we're out here. He'd want to rub it in our faces."

Ken nodded. "One hour, guys. What can we do?"

Aya closed his eyes. "There is only thing to do."

"Aya?" Ken blinked.

"It's Omi's body that he is using. Without Omi's body, he can't do what he has come to do."

"Yeah, but how do we get him out?"

Aya turned to look over his shoulder at his teammate. "Only one way."

With that, Aya moved toward the door. Ken blinked, trying to figure out Aya's cryptic answer when Youji's hand fell on his shoulder. Ken looked back at the tall assassin, who looked back at him with sorrowful eyes, then walked past him after Aya.

-----------

Aya opened the church door, looking in for immediate danger. His eyes widened at what he saw. Bodies lay sprawled around the altar, crumpled like forgotten dolls. Bodies clothed in the black garments of the holy profession. In the center of the altar stood Omi, looking up at the bloodstained Jesus on the cross.

He was dressed in dark slacks with a long, black coat over them, hands tucked into the pockets. He didn't acknowledge Aya's presence. Youji and Ken followed Aya through the door.

"Omi!" Aya yelled. Omi turned his head slowly, looking back to the group. Nearly twenty years old, and he had hardly gotten any bigger. He still looked like the cheerful, innocent youth they remembered.

"I feel a sense of nostalgia, seeing you again," Omi said as he slowly turned around.

Aya narrowed his eyes. "We will stop you here. We will not allow you to continue!"

Omi chuckled, bowing his head. "If you think you can."

Aya crouched, katana sliding out of its sheath.

"Omi, if you're still in there..." Ken asked pleadingly. "Please, fight him."

Omi snickered, spreading his hands and leaving himself vulnerable in a show of fearless arrogance. It looked like a mockery of the figure on the cross. "I AM Omi Tsukiyono."

"Never," Youji hissed.

"Midnight." Omi smiled, stepping forward with bloodied hands still outspread. Flecks of blood marked his face and hair, crimson sin against white and gold. "And a new era begins."

"Never!" Aya dashed forward, katana drawn.

"Aya, nooo!" Ken screamed, darting forward to stop him. Omi tilted his head back slightly, watching Aya approach, the smirk still on his lips.

Aya slashed, and Omi leapt into the air as if taking flight. Aya's katana struck the ground as Omi flipped in midair over his head and landed gracefully behind Ken. Ken whirled to face him before a simple backhand from Omi sent him flying into the pews to the left.

"Omi!" Youji screamed, sending his wire flying at the smaller blonde, trying to wrap that slender neck. Omi's hand shot out and caught the wire as it neared him, letting it wrap around his hand. With a fierce tug, he jerked Youji forward and down to the floor. Youji blinked a green eye through strands of aureate hair as Omi's foot came down on his head.

Youji gasped to feel the pressure increase, grinding his cheek into the carpeting and continue pressing. The scream broke free of his throat unbidden. Then he heard Omi cry out and the pressure was gone. He lifted his head to see Omi facing Aya, the katana stained with blood. Youji's eyes widened to see the still unhealed wounds on Omi's back through the rent in his jacket. He still carried the stigmata. Just as they all still did.

"Omi would agree," Aya snarled, tilting the katana for a side strike. "You have tormented him for too long."

Youji scrambled forward and wrapped his arms around Omi's legs. Omi glanced down at him long enough for Aya to lunge. The blade cut deep into his side, coming to rest only when it stopped against his spine.

"Forgive us," Aya whispered into Omi's face when shocked blue eyes looked back at the redhead. Aya twisted the sword and jerked it out. Blood splattered Youji and he let go, rolling on his side, away from the blonde.

Omi looked down at his torso, clasping a hand to his stomach as blood continued to spill onto the floor. He lifted the other hand out toward Aya as if asking for help to continue standing. He fell to his knees in front of Aya and Aya dropped to his knees with him.

"Bear us no ill will, Omi," he said quietly to the small blonde. Omi looked up at him, and his hands darted out to grab Aya around the throat.

"It'll take more than that," he snarled, and squeezed.

"Omi!" Youji barreled into his former teammate, sending them both sprawling onto the floor. Aya fell on his back, clutching at his throat as he made choked, rasping noises.

-----------

Ken reopened his eyes, lying on his back on the floor between pews. His whole body felt the battering it had taken from the pews as he slowly used the same pews to pull himself back to his feet. Youji was on his knees over Omi, wire pulled tight in his hands as Omi's feet kicked wildly. Aya lay on his back, clutching at his throat and convulsing. Ken ran over to Aya's side, trying not to listen to Omi's choked sounds as Youji carried out their duty.

Aya's eyes were wide and wild as he struggled to breathe.

"Aya." Ken clasped his hands on either side of his teammate's face. He saw the panic in the lavender eyes as his body continued to twist and struggle against suffocation. Ken grabbed Aya's hands, pulling them from his throat. What he saw stopped him cold. The skin sunk in over Aya's throat. It was no longer pulled snugly over a properly shaped windpipe.

Ken looked back to Aya's eyes and saw pleading there. He felt tears sting his eyes as Aya stopped choking and his struggles weakened. Aya looked at him silently, eyes the color of the evening sky begging for something. Something he couldn't say.

"We'll take care of her." Ken gently stroked a pale cheek with the back of his gloved fingers as if telling Aya he wasn't alone. Relief flooded those eyes and a grateful smile tugged at his lips. His body twisted once more, leg twitching in its last act of denial before coming to rest and Aya's eyes fluttered closed.

Ken choked on a sob, closing his eyes and letting his head hang. Then he reeled, hands clutching at his head as warm liquid rolled down his face.

-----------

Youji tugged tighter, seeing his wire disappearing into pale skin. Omi still struggled with him, one hand holding the exposed length of wire and the other clutching at the front of Youji's outfit.

Tears rolled down Youji's cheeks, blinding him thankfully. He didn't have to see those blue eyes as he strangled the life out of them. Omi's hand slid from the wire to his hand, gripping it and squeezing. Youji screamed, feeling his bones compact under the pressure and pulled for all he was worth. The bones in his hand snapped, driving his scream higher.

-----------

Ken blinked his eyes, wiping blood out of them to see Youji with his head thrown back, screaming in agony. Omi flipped them over, ending up kneeling over Youji, and Ken clenched his fist, claws slipping into place.

"Omiiii!" He darted forward with the scream, hand drawn back to slash. Omi seemed to ignore him, hands clutching into the fabric of Youji's outfit. Ken threw his arm forward, aiming at the bleeding back before him. At the last moment, Omi rolled backwards onto his back, pulling Youji up with him to his knees. Ken's mind screamed, unable to stop his forward motion in time.

Youji blinked at him, eyes confused as if he didn't know how Ken had gotten there. Omi released Youji and somersaulted backwards past Ken's leg. Youji stayed sitting up, staring at Ken. Ken couldn't move, frozen in his position.

Youji opened his mouth and all that came out was a gurgling noise. Ken kept staring in horror, his mind unable to process anything else. Youji's eyes became half-lidded and slowly he started to slip backwards. Metal blades slipped back out of pale skin, and blood followed in their wake, splattering Ken's face as if it had been spat at him.

Youji hit the ground, eyes staring straight up as his life rushed from his neck to spread across the floor. He gasped with loud gurgling sounds, drowning in his own blood. He convulsed once, then once again. Then he lay still.

-----------

Ken stayed as he was, blood collecting in rivulets down his face to drip off his chin. He could only stare at the blood dripping off his extended blades. He finally dropped to his knees, eyes wide and staring. A harsh laugh snapped his head around.

Omi was dropping the wire that had wound his throat to the floor. As Ken watched, the red lines that marked Omi's throat filled in, returning to unblemished whiteness again.

"And then there was one." Omi smiled. Ken gasped, drawing in air in shuddering breaths.

"Wait." Omi lifted a finger. "It's coming."

Ken opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He tried again, but all that came out was a strained whimper. Then he screamed as pain pierced his foot.

"The..." he stuttered before the same pain lanced his other foot.

"The stigmata," Omi finished for him. "You get to carry all three. Aren't you special?"

The pain subsided and Ken lifted his head again to look at Omi. Omi glanced at his watch.

"Not much time left." He looked back to Ken. "Just enough to kill you with."

Ken pushed back to his feet, feeling blood filling his boots.

"I...won't...fail..." He fixed his eyes on Omi.

"That's what they thought too." Omi smirked. Ken clutched his fists, claws locking in place with a sound that seemed louder than usual.

"Can you kill me...Ken-kun?" Omi asked. Ken blinked to hear the familiar term of affection.

"I'm still Omi, you know." Omi tilted his head to the side and smiled. It wasn't one of his cruel, mocking smiles, but one of Omi's old ones. One that was full of warmth and happiness. "It was just me and you in the beginning, Ken-kun. Before Aya-kun and Youji-kun joined."

It sounded so much like the old Omi, Ken wavered in indecision, his claws retracting.

"It's not too late, Ken-kun," Omi continued. "You can stay with me, and I can fix everything bad that happened to you. All you have to do is say 'Yes'."

~ Say a prayer for the dying

while there's still time ~

Ken blinked at the voice singing to him. Omi frowned, turning his head to look around.

~ Pray for good

and pray for love ~

Omi hissed, narrowing his eyes.

~ Pray for peace

and pray it's enough ~

Ken felt something loose in his heart slip back it belonged, locking into place.

~ Pray for salvation

pray that we're right ~

"Give me the strength." Ken turned his eyes to the bloodstained figure on the cross behind the altar. "Forgive me."

Pain faded from his limbs and Ken found the strength to step forward toward Omi.

~ Pray one day

we open our eyes ~

Omi watched him as he approached. Ken spread his hands, dropping to his knees again in front of Omi.

~ Pray for them

and pray for us ~

"I want Omi back." Ken looked up into bright blue eyes. Omi smiled down at him.

"I'm right here, Ken-kun." Omi spread his arms toward him.

~ Pray one day

we can live as one ~

Ken folded his arms around Omi's waist, resting his head against Omi's stomach. Omi patted his hair.

"It'll be okay now, Ken-kun."

Ken leaned back to look up at Omi, loosening his hold. Omi still smiled down at him. The old Omi.

~ Pray for the children

whose time is to come ~

Ken clenched his fist, and as his claws emerged, they buried themselves in Omi's chest. Omi's eyes widened, staring down at him. Ken ripped upwards, and Omi jerked, blood spilling out of his mouth. Ken jerked upwards again, going for his heart.

~ Pray they forgive us 

for the stupid things we've done ~

Omi blinked at him as he wavered and sank to his knees, dropping him down to Ken's eye level. Ken's other arm stayed wrapped around him so he couldn't pull away.

"I didn't think you would do it," he gasped.

~ Pray for good 

and pray for love ~

Ken stared into Omi's eyes, tears filling his own again. "I could not fail."

Omi looked back at him and laughed. "You think you've won?"

~ Pray for salvation 

and pray it's enough ~

Omi laughed again, coughing up more blood. "This body wasn't the unholy host. You've only delayed the inevitable."

Ken's eyes widened.

~ Pray for one day 

we open our eyes ~

Omi lifted his left hand, lifting it in front of Ken's face. A gold ring stained in crimson shone on his finger.

"The birth of my son will be announced to the world with fire and thunder, sanctified with blood and death."

~ Pray for them

and pray for us ~

Ken stared at him, his chest heaving with deep breaths.

"Fool," Omi snorted, and coughed up more blood, limping against his arm. Ken pulled out his claws, closing his eyes in disbelief.

"Ken-kun..."

~ Pray one day 

we can live as one ~

Ken's eyes snapped back open again at the soft, loving tone of the voice. Omi smiled up at him.

"Thank you, Ken-kun."

"Omi..." Ken shifted his teammate in his hold.

"Ken-kun." Omi blinked his eyes lazily. "We're going to heaven."

"What?"

~ Pray for the children

whose time is to come ~

"Aya-kun, and Youji-kun...are there...waiting...."

Ken gulped hard on the lump in his throat.

"I'll..." Omi blinked slowly. "I'll be waiting for you too."

Omi smiled as his eyes closed and his last breath slipped out of him in a quiet sigh.

~ Pray they forgive us 

for the stupid things we've done ~

-----------

31 December 1999

11:55 PM

To whoever finds this, Persia, Kritiker, anyone... We've failed. Balinese, Abyssinian, Bombay, they're gone.
    
    11:56

I'm the only one left. But we're too late. There is a child to be born. That child is the unholy host. Not Bombay. The child's birth will be announced with thunder, fire, blood, and death. 
    
    11:57

Find it. Stop it. Please. Don't let us fail. Aya Fujimiya. Take care of her. She has no one else left now. 
    
    11:58

I'm tired. I'm carrying all four stigmata now. As Abyssinian, Balinese, and Bombay died, their stigmata passed onto me. They won't stop bleeding. 
    
    11:59

I can barely keep my eyes open. It's taking me forever just to find the right keys to type this. Please, don't let us fail. Someone find this and read it, pleas
    
    12:00

"Happy New Year," a young woman whispered into the night as she gently caressed the curve of her stomach. "Happy New Year...daddy..."

-----------

01 April 00
    
    8:34 AM

As Mt. Uru erupted, doctors labored to save a young woman in labor. Her child was born in blood, screaming its outrage.

The young woman weakly laughed in joy to hear the sound as the sheets quickly soaked red, an unexplained wound in her chest spilling her life despite the efforts of the nurses.

"It's a perfect baby boy," the doctor quickly told the weakening mother.

"Tenshi," the young woman whispered, lifting a blood-streaked hand toward the wailing and kicking infant.

"My Tenshi," she whispered again before her hand faltered and dropped amid the bed sheets. A nurse took the child to clean as the doctor tried to save its mother.

The nurse returned to find the doctor pulling the sheet up over the young mother's face. In the nurse's arms, the infant blinked hazy blue eyes at the scene, and slowly, he smiled.

Note: New research relates Christ was speared in the heart. Not the side.

I wrote this with the song used in the story, 'Pray' by Tina Cousins, in mind. It also played as this was written. So was Traci Lord's 'One Thousand Fires' album. As for the Dark One not allowed to be born in flesh, the church isn't _always_ right. I have nothing against the church or any religion! It's just a story. Isn't it?


End file.
